Beyond Expert Circles: Measuring Central Banks’ Engagement with the Wider Public

Central banks’ interaction with the public has so far been conceptualised mainly in terms of their transparency and accountability, often using indices for comparative analyses (e.g. Eijffinger & Geraats, 2006; Dincer & Eichengreen, 2014). In recent years, central bank interaction with the public has been transformed in the context of an increased saliency and political contestation of their actions and a loss of trust by the general public. Central banks now actively seek to improve understanding among the wider public, not only to regain the trust that underpins their legitimacy and independence, but also to enhance the effectiveness of their policies. This paper presents a systematic approach to quantifying, measuring and evaluating central banks’ engagement in the European Monetary Union with the broader public by constructing a central bank engagement index. The index allows for a comparative assessment of how much central banks in the European Monetary Union are willing to embark on new ways of communication to engage with their audiences and rebuild eroded trust. Given that central banks in the Eurozone are core actors of Europe’s most prominent integration project – the euro – special emphasis is placed on their efforts to actively promote pro-European messages and counter Euroscepticism. The index takes into account the degree of openness and accessibility of information as well as central banks’ responsiveness, receptiveness for input (listening) and two-way engagement.