The perception of legitimacy in the EU and the influence of EU-specific political knowledge

This article addresses the impact of EU-specific political knowledge on the perceptions of legitimacy towards the European Union (EU). Following the literature on attitude research, one can expect apositive as well as anegative impact. By implementing aquasi-experimental design with arepertory grid, the article confirms the negative impact of EU-specific political knowledge on perceptions of the EU's legitimacy. As EU-specific political knowledge increased, the perception of legitimacy decreased. At the same time, democratic norms and values became more important in the respondents' views. The results are in line with the phenomenon of critical citizens, whereby respondents' individual normative standards diverge from the reality.