The Effect of Repeated Losses on Legitimacy Perceptions

One of the appealing ideas in the procedural fairness framework is the potential to overcome dissatisfaction with unfavourable outcomes by giving people a voice in the decision-making process. However, what if you are confronted with outcomes that are repeatedly unfavourable? In effect, losing repeatedly is claimed to deteriorate legitimacy perceptions, because the representative system fails continuously to turn certain groups of citizens (and their policy preferences) into winners (Anderson et al., 2005). Long periods without alternation in power might threaten the functioning and very existence of the democratic system. Yet, existing research is limited. We aim to fill this gap by gathering experimental evidence on repeatedly losing. The main research question reads as follows: Does repeatedly losing deteriorate legitimacy perceptions significantly more than losing occasionally?