Elites are central in creating, operating, defending and contesting international organisations (IOs), but little research is available about their attitudes toward these bodies. To address this gap, this article offers the first systematic and comparative analysis of elite perceptions of IO legitimacy. Building on a unique multi-country and multi-sector survey of 860 elites undertaken in 2017–19, we map and explain elite legitimacy beliefs toward three key IOs in different issue-areas: the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Integrating public opinion research and international relations theory, the article advances an explanation of elites’ legitimacy beliefs that emphasises their satisfaction with the institutional qualities of IOs. We contrast this argument with three common alternative explanations, which respectively highlight utilitarian calculation, global orientation and domestic cues. The analyses show that elites’ satisfaction with institutional qualities of IOs is most consistently related to legitimacy beliefs: when elites are more satisfied with democracy, effectiveness and fairness in IOs, they also regard these IOs as more legitimate. These findings suggest that the prevailing debate between utilitarian calculation, global orientation and domestic cues approaches neglects the importance of institutional satisfaction as an explanation of attitudes toward IOs.

精英在创建，运营，捍卫和竞争国际组织（IOs）方面处于中心地位，但是关于他们对这些组织的态度的研究很少。为了解决这一差距，本文提供了对IO合法性的精英观念的首次系统性和比较性分析。在2017-19年度对860名精英进行的独特的多国家和多行业调查的基础上，我们针对不同问题领域的三个主要IO绘制了精英合法性信念并进行了解释：国际货币基金组织（IMF），联合国框架气候变化公约（UNFCCC）和联合国安理会（UNSC）。通过将舆论研究与国际关系理论相结合，本文对精英的合法性信念进行了解释，强调了精英对IO的机构素质的满意度。我们将此论点与三种常见的替代性解释进行对比，它们分别强调功利主义的计算，全球取向和国内暗示。分析表明，精英对IO的机构品质的满意度与合法性信念最一致：当精英对IO的民主，有效性和公平性更加满意时，他们也将这些IO视为更合法。这些发现表明，在功利主义计算，全球定位和国内线索方法之间的普遍争论忽视了制度满意度作为对IO态度的解释的重要性。分析表明，精英对IO的机构品质的满意度与合法性信念最一致：当精英对IO的民主，有效性和公平性更加满意时，他们也将这些IO视为更合法。这些发现表明，在功利主义计算，全球定位和国内线索方法之间的普遍争论忽视了制度满意度作为对IO态度的解释的重要性。分析表明，精英对IO的机构品质的满意度与合法性信念最一致：当精英对IO的民主，有效性和公平性更加满意时，他们也将这些IO视为更合法。这些发现表明，在功利主义计算，全球定位和国内线索方法之间的普遍争论忽视了制度满意度作为对IO态度的解释的重要性。