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

这是一个与休斯顿大学的詹姆斯·吉布森合作的项目，目的是调查跨国法律机构获得大规模政治合法性并使其决定得到遵守的过程。该项目以欧洲法院为重点，它正在成为世界上最强大的司法机构之一。该项目是以对欧洲共同体十二个国家的大众公众的调查为基础的。这项调查是1992年秋季欧洲晴雨表的一部分。将检验关于跨国机构获得合法性的若干假设，以及这种合法性对遵守国家和国际法院的后果。该项目是调查获得和维持跨国法律机构合法性过程的首批研究工作之一。该分析将通过以下方式促进制度合法性理论的发展：(1)确定理论框架在民族国家范围之外是否有用；(2)以程序正义理论为基础，探索合法性与遵从性之间的关系；(3)检验一系列关于法院、合法性和合规性的传统假设，这些假设之前没有进行过比较调查；(4)为未来研究机构获得善意储备的过程提供基准；(5)通过分析法院如何为跨国政治和法律机构的合法性做出贡献并从中获利，从而促进民主理论的发展。总体而言，该项目将有助于比较政治学，法律制度的运作，并在国际关系突出的问题。

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.