Civic Representation, Legitimacy, and Attitudes Towards Trade in the European Union

The effects of this representation are not obvious ex ante. On one hand, involving civil society in trade negotiations could enhance the input and output legitimacy of the trade agreement process. Under this scenario, the public feels their voices are heard which boosts acceptance of trade deals and perceptions of its welfare benefits. On the other hand, tokenistic civil society inclusion could spark greater politicization and dissatisfaction with the trade agreement, spurring public sentiment against it (i.e., throughput legitimacy matters too).

Using data from an original, online survey experiment, we explore the effect of civic society organization (CSO) participation in FTAs on perceptions of input, output, and throughput legitimacy in two European Union (EU) member states, Germany and Ireland. We also interview civic actors and policymakers active in EU trade policy. We find that information on CSO involvement in FTAs is positively associated with survey respondents’ views on the input legitimacy of trade policymaking, although it is not associated with perceptions of greater societal welfare. When informed about CSOs being satisfied with their involvement in the FTA negotiations, survey respondents then see greater sociotropic benefits of trade. Ultimately, the perceived legitimacy of FTAs can be enhanced through input (i.e., voice) or output (i.e., consequences) and our study indicates that giving voice to civil society may arrest the growing backlash against free trade but is dependant on throughput legitimacy conditions.

About speaker

Evgeny Postnikov is Associate Professor in International Relations at The University of Melbourne. He focuses on international political economy, trade, and external relations. Evgeny is the author of “Social Standards in EU and US Trade Agreements” and co-editor of “A Geo-Economic Turn in Trade Policy: EU Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific”. His articles appeared in leading outlets, including, among others, the Review of International Political Economy, Review of International Organizations, and Environmental Politics. He was awarded an ARC Discovery grant to study the politicisation of trade agreements and a Jean Monnet Network Grant (as co-recipient) to establish the Europe-Asia Security and Trade (EAST) network. Evgeny was previously Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Glasgow, he taught at Nankai University (China) and held visiting positions at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Universidad D. Portales in Santiago, Seoul National University, HEC Montreal, Graduate Institute Geneva and the European University Institute. He completed his PhD at the University of Pittsburgh.

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