Who should decide? A comparative study of citizens’ and politicians’ preferences for political decision-making

Participatory mechanisms are growing around the globe. However, it remains contested whether citizens genuinely want to participate, and what motivates politicians to share power. Existing research has largely examined these attitudes separately. This paper, however, adopts a comparative perspective to analyse preferences for participatory versus representative governance among citizens and politicians in five European countries. Using two web-based surveys, we estimate different models with comparable variables to understand these preferences. Results reveal a well-known gap, with citizens showing stronger support for participatory arrangements, while also revealing partial overlap in the underlying drivers across groups. Across both groups, individuals who are dissatisfied with democracy, lean left ideologically, and trust citizens’ competence (or their own ability) are more supportive of participatory democracy. Among citizens, populist attitudes and participatory experience are influential, while among politicians, the level of office held matters. Finally, cross-country differences underscore the influence of national contexts in these preferences.