2021 Volume 30 Issue 3 Pages 161-175
Legitimacy is defined as the approvability of an individual’s or others’ rights in the context of public decision-making. First, we discuss the theoretical background for people’s tendency to approve the concerned parties’ superior legitimacy (superior legitimization of the concerned party) in a “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) problem. This can be an irrational judgement because the enhancement of the public good that NIMBY facilities can achieve may be undermined by the rejection of the concerned party (e.g., local residents). Public decision making about NIMBY facilities may involve multi-polarization, in which there are two or more concerned parties who hold conflicting interests. Such a context will inhibit the superiority of legitimacy of a certain concerned party and increase the legitimacy of a government agency to balance the interests of the parties. In an experiment, participants played a simulation game (Who & Why Game) in which they were assigned to one of the four roles around the placement of a high-level radioactive waste storage facility: a local resident, an expert commission member, a national majority, or a government agency. They were then asked to discuss the problem. In a condition demonstrating the interests of future generations conflicting with those of local residents, superior legitimization of the concerned party (local residents) appeared to be inhibited, whereas legitimization of them was observed in a condition without the demonstration of future generations’ interests.
