Public opinion, consultation type & citizen assessments of unequal interest representation

The public image of interest groups is often bleak with concerns that decision-makers typically consult a biased set of interest groups. Our aim is to examine whether adapting the form of consultation (open, mixed or closed) and drawing attention to public opinion can be effective tools for decision-makers to lower concerns about inequality in interest representation. We test whether the use of open consultations reduces the negative impact of these inequalities on citizens’ legitimacy assessments of policy-making. Moreover, we examine whether adopting policy decisions that go against public opinion on an issue increases the negative consequences of inequalities in group involvement while acting in line with public opinion lowers them. Our expectations are tested through a survey experiment with a conjoint design in Denmark (N=3,000), which presents respondents with descriptions of fictitious but realistic policy-making scenario. Attributes such as the type of consultation, interest group representation, and public opinion are randomly varied. The findings have important implications not only for understanding how different types of inequalities in interest group participation affect the legitimacy of policy making but for teasing out whether decision-makers can affect these assessments by their choice of consultation mechanisms and use of public opinion data.