Institutional Sources of Legitimate Authority: An Experimental Investigation

Author(s): 

Eric S. Dickson, Sanford C. Gordon and Gregory A. Huber

ISPS ID: 
ISPS14-036
Full citation: 
Dickson, Eric S., Sanford C. Gordon and Gregory A. Huber (2014). Institutional Sources of Legitimate Authority: An Experimental Investigation. American Journal of Political Science. doi: 10.1111/ajps.12139
Abstract: 
Unelected officials with coercive powers (e.g., police, prosecutors, bureaucrats) vary markedly in the extent to which citizens view their actions as legitimate. We explore the institutional determinants of legitimate authority in the context of a public goods laboratory experiment. In the experiment, an “authority” can target one “citizen” for punishment following citizen contribution choices. Untargeted citizens can then choose to help or hinder the authority. This latter choice may be interpreted as a behavioral measure of the authority's legitimacy. We find that legitimacy is affected by how authorities are compensated, the transparency with which their decisions are observed, and an interaction between these. When transparency is high, citizens are more willing to assist authorities who receive fixed salaries than those who personally benefit from collected penalties, even when citizens' material incentives are controlled for. Lower transparency reduces support, but only for salaried enforcers.
Supplemental information: 

Link to article here.

Publication date: 
2014
Publication type: 
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