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Reforming supranational institutions: Insights from a conjoint experiment in 16 countries

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  • Catherine E De Vries
  • Simon Hix
  • Miriam Sorace

Abstract

Contemporary international organizations face pressure to be more effective and accountable. But reforming them is challenging given stringent supermajority voting requirements and increasingly critical publics. Some argue that institutional preferences are endogenous to policy, or policy-elastic. Are there policy-inelastic institutional preferences? And are there viable European Union (EU) reform packages? We tackle these questions through a conjoint experiment in 16 EU countries. The evidence shows that majoritarian institutional reforms and stronger legal enforcement powers are supported independently of policy. Finally, results from a Bayesian finite mixture model identify combinations of institutional and policy reforms that could command broad public support. The study is significant for the understanding of institutional preferences, as well as for EU reform processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Catherine E De Vries & Simon Hix & Miriam Sorace, 2025. "Reforming supranational institutions: Insights from a conjoint experiment in 16 countries," European Union Politics, , vol. 26(4), pages 649-666, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:26:y:2025:i:4:p:649-666
    DOI: 10.1177/14651165251365561
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    References listed on IDEAS

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