Prior studies show that citizens demand both competence and responsiveness from national governments, but we lack an understanding of such preferences in trans- and international contexts. This is problematic as international organizations (IOs) face strong demands for responsiveness and offer a multitude of channels through which representation can occur. In this paper, we investigate (1) how citizens want to be represented at the international level, and (2) how citizen preferences for IO responsiveness can be explained. We theorize that such preferences are shaped by broader affinities with different models of representation, as well as important contextual factors such as policy area and mobilization potential. We test these hypotheses using a unique pre-registered survey experiment conducted in the Netherlands, Italy and Bulgaria, which investigates these preferences in the context of the European Commission. Our findings have important implications for the literatures on political representation and the legitimacy and responsiveness of IOs.
