Collaborative Research on Legitimacy, Judicial Power and the European Court of Justice

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This is a collaborative project, with James Gibson of the University of Houston, to investigate the processes through which transnational legal institutions acquire mass political legitimacy and attain compliance with their decisions. The project focusses on the European Court of Justice, which is emerging as one of the most powerful judicial institutions in the world, and is based on a survey of the mass publics in the twelve nations of the European Community. The survey constitutes part of the Autumn 1992 Eurobarometer. Several hypotheses will be tested about the acquisition of legitimacy by transnational institutions, as well as the consequences of that legitimacy for compliance with both national and international courts. The project is one of the first research efforts investigating processes of the acquisition and maintenance of the legitimacy of transnational legal institutions. The analysis will contribute to the development of theories of institutional legitimacy through (1) determining whether the theoretical frameworks are useful beyond the confines of the nation-state;, (2) exploring the connections between legitimacy and compliance, relying heavily on theories of procedural justice; (3) testing a serious of conventional hypotheses about courts, legitimacy, and compliance for which there are no previous comparative inquiries; (4) providing a benchmark for future research into the processes through which institutions acquire a reservoir of good will; and (5) contributing to the development of democratic theory by analyzing how courts contribute to and profit from the legitimacy of transnational political and legal institutions. Overall, the project will contribute to prominent questions in comparative politics, the workings of legal systems, and in international relations.