Who Should Rule for Cosmopolitans? Linking Cosmopolitan Orientations and Governance Preferences

In an era of globalization, much research has explored what those disadvantaged by globalization want from future democracy, while less is known about the preferences of those who benefit from and support globalization, namely, cosmopolitans. This article investigates the governance preferences of German cosmopolitans using original survey data. It introduces cosmopolitanism as a multidimensional concept and links these dimensions to support for representative, technocratic and participatory democracy. Results show that the foundations of cosmopolitan orientations are decisive to governance preferences. While nearly all dimensions align positively with expert governance, only institutional cosmopolitanism (entailing support for political supranationalism and economic globalization) is connected to significant and consistent support for representative government. Meanwhile, moral cosmopolitanism and cultural cosmopolitanism are associated with participatory democracy (concretely, referendums and citizen assemblies). The findings lend insight into the understudied democratic preferences of cosmopolitan citizens, and show that they hold divergent perspectives on democracy.