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Who do people prefer to be in charge? An in-depth analysis of UK citizens’ preferences for politicians, citizens, experts, and/or artificial intelligence in policymaking

Tessa Haesevoets (UGent) , Bram Verschuere (UGent) , Kim Dierckx (UGent) , Alain Van Hiel (UGent) and Arne Roets (UGent)
(2025) POLITICAL STUDIES. 74(1). p.373-397
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Abstract
For a long time, research on democratic governance has primarily focused on preferences for singular decision-makers: elected politicians, citizens, or experts. Recently, however, there has been a shift toward considering preferences for multiple decision-makers, but the specifics of these “multi-actor” models remain unclear. This study addresses this gap by exploring how people prefer decisional authority to be balanced among elected politicians, citizens, (human) experts, and artificial intelligence-based technologies. Analyzing data from over 1500 UK citizens, we identified eight distinct clusters. Four of these clusters (30.8% of the sample) prefer one actor to be dominant in policy decisions (“dominant-actor” clusters), while the other four clusters (69.2% of the sample) prefer co-decision by two or more actors (“multiple-actor” clusters). Overall, the present findings highlight the complexity of decision-making preferences in democratic governance, revealing a strong tendency among citizens toward more “hybrid” decision-making models.
Keywords
artificial intelligence, hybrid decision-making, constant-sum paradigm, pairwise comparisons, cluster robustness validation, GOVERNANCE, PARTICIPATION

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Citation

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MLA
Haesevoets, Tessa, et al. “Who Do People Prefer to Be in Charge? An in-Depth Analysis of UK Citizens’ Preferences for Politicians, Citizens, Experts, and/or Artificial Intelligence in Policymaking.” POLITICAL STUDIES, vol. 74, no. 1, 2025, pp. 373–97, doi:10.1177/00323217251323406.
APA
Haesevoets, T., Verschuere, B., Dierckx, K., Van Hiel, A., & Roets, A. (2025). Who do people prefer to be in charge? An in-depth analysis of UK citizens’ preferences for politicians, citizens, experts, and/or artificial intelligence in policymaking. POLITICAL STUDIES, 74(1), 373–397. https://doi.org/10.1177/00323217251323406
Chicago author-date
Haesevoets, Tessa, Bram Verschuere, Kim Dierckx, Alain Van Hiel, and Arne Roets. 2025. “Who Do People Prefer to Be in Charge? An in-Depth Analysis of UK Citizens’ Preferences for Politicians, Citizens, Experts, and/or Artificial Intelligence in Policymaking.” POLITICAL STUDIES 74 (1): 373–97. https://doi.org/10.1177/00323217251323406.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Haesevoets, Tessa, Bram Verschuere, Kim Dierckx, Alain Van Hiel, and Arne Roets. 2025. “Who Do People Prefer to Be in Charge? An in-Depth Analysis of UK Citizens’ Preferences for Politicians, Citizens, Experts, and/or Artificial Intelligence in Policymaking.” POLITICAL STUDIES 74 (1): 373–397. doi:10.1177/00323217251323406.
Vancouver
1.
Haesevoets T, Verschuere B, Dierckx K, Van Hiel A, Roets A. Who do people prefer to be in charge? An in-depth analysis of UK citizens’ preferences for politicians, citizens, experts, and/or artificial intelligence in policymaking. POLITICAL STUDIES. 2025;74(1):373–97.
IEEE
[1]
T. Haesevoets, B. Verschuere, K. Dierckx, A. Van Hiel, and A. Roets, “Who do people prefer to be in charge? An in-depth analysis of UK citizens’ preferences for politicians, citizens, experts, and/or artificial intelligence in policymaking,” POLITICAL STUDIES, vol. 74, no. 1, pp. 373–397, 2025.
@article{01JPMM11N65R6E256KDZMVM73T,
  abstract     = {{For a long time, research on democratic governance has primarily focused on preferences for singular decision-makers: elected politicians, citizens, or experts. Recently, however, there has been a shift toward considering preferences for multiple decision-makers, but the specifics of these “multi-actor” models remain unclear. This study addresses this gap by exploring how people prefer decisional authority to be balanced among elected politicians, citizens, (human) experts, and artificial intelligence-based technologies. Analyzing data from over 1500 UK citizens, we identified eight distinct clusters. Four of these clusters (30.8% of the sample) prefer one actor to be dominant in policy decisions (“dominant-actor” clusters), while the other four clusters (69.2% of the sample) prefer co-decision by two or more actors (“multiple-actor” clusters). Overall, the present findings highlight the complexity of decision-making preferences in democratic governance, revealing a strong tendency among citizens toward more “hybrid” decision-making models.}},
  author       = {{Haesevoets, Tessa and Verschuere, Bram and Dierckx, Kim and Van Hiel, Alain and Roets, Arne}},
  issn         = {{0032-3217}},
  journal      = {{POLITICAL STUDIES}},
  keywords     = {{artificial intelligence,hybrid decision-making,constant-sum paradigm,pairwise comparisons,cluster robustness validation,GOVERNANCE,PARTICIPATION}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{373--397}},
  title        = {{Who do people prefer to be in charge? An in-depth analysis of UK citizens’ preferences for politicians, citizens, experts, and/or artificial intelligence in policymaking}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1177/00323217251323406}},
  volume       = {{74}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}
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