Civic Participation and Legitimacy of Trade Agreements: How Does Voice Matter?

• In Event: Knowledge and Legitimacy in Trade Politics

Abstract

Increasingly preferential trade agreements (PTAs) include civic organizations in their negotiation, design, and implementation process. How does this incorporation of civil society in PTAs affect public perceptions of the legitimacy of free trade deals? The effects of these inclusion mechanisms are not well understood and are not obvious ex ante. On one hand, involving civil society actively in trade negotiations could enhance the legitimacy of the trade agreement process as the public feels their voices are heard. Yet, on the other hand, civil society could express dissatisfaction with the trade negotiation process and agreement design, thus spurring public sentiment against the agreements. Using data from an original survey experiment, we explore the effect of civic participation in PTAs on public perceptions of free trade deals in two European Union (EU) member states, Germany and Ireland. The EU is the focus of the inquiry because of the marked difference in public acceptance of trade deals across member states and because it has been at the forefront of civil society inclusion in trade policy-making amidst a growing politicization of PTAs. Ultimately, we expect greater public support and legitimacy associated with trade agreements when the EU signs PTAs that involve civil society, although it is mediated by civil society’s satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the negotiations and concessions made. Ultimately, the perceived legitimacy of PTAs can be enhanced through either input (i.e., voice) or output (i.e., consequences) and our study indicates that voice can be a means to change the growing backlash against free trade, especially in the Global North.

Authors

• Evgeny Postnikov, University of Melbourne

• Ida Bastiaens, Fordham University