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Abstract:

Normative theories that call for increased citizen participation assume that individuals uniformly value citizen involvement and react favorably towards procedures and authorities. Drawing on procedural fairness theory, we theorize that individuals can perceive citizen involvement as more fair for two substantially different reasons. They can either value involvement as a strategy to exert more control over outcomes or appreciate the process itself because of its egalitarian nature. We suggest social dominance orientation as a moderator which determines whether individuals value involvement for instrumental or relational reasons. By means of a vignette experiment (N=702) we show that individuals with a high social dominance orientation perceive a process with citizen involvement as fairer only if the outcome is favorable. Individuals with a low social dominance orientation however perceive citizen involvement as fair independent of the outcome.