Distance, Dissatisfaction and Decentralisation: Does Geographical Proximity to National Political Institutions Shape Satisfaction with Democracy?

Issues such as immigration, European integration, the economic crisis and economic inequality have put strain on the legitimacy of political institutions in European democracies. Several strands of research are currently focusing on understanding this challenge, for instance producing valuable knowledge on the mechanisms underlying (dis)satisfaction with democracy and trust in political actors and institutions. Different theoretical conceptions of distance – in background, employment, education and attitudes – to political elites have been relevant in this literature. However, the role of geographical distance to these elites and the political institutions they control has to the best of our knowledge not been explored. In this paper, we combine survey data from 18 countries (ESS Round 8), travel distance from respondents (on the NUTS 2 or NUTS 3 regional level) to their capital and measures of decentralization (country level). Using multilevel models, the analyses investigate the importance of geographical promixity for satisfaction with democracy and political trust. Additionally, we look at the role of differences between urban and rural areas, and whether the degree of decentralization in a political system matters for the geography of discontent.