Legitimacy (political science)

Legitimacy in political science, is the popular acceptance of a governing regime or law as an authority. Whereas authority refers to a specific position in an established government, the term legitimacy is used when describing a system of government itself —where "government may be generalized to mean the wider "sphere of influence."

Related Topics:
Political science - Regime - Law - Authority - Sphere of influence

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This concept has also been applied to other, non-political, kinds of authority, such as that of an employer hiring workers and further, to issues concerning the legitimacy of entire political-economic systems (such as capitalism) are discussed in the Marxist tradition.

Related Topics:
Capitalism - Marxist

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The word legitimacy can be interpreted in either a normative or a positive way. For the former, which gets greater attention in moral philosophy, something is "legitimate" if one approves of it. For the latter, which gets greater attention in political science, an institution is legitimate if such approval is general among those subject to its authority. Issues of legitimacy are linked to those of consent, both explicit and tacit.

Related Topics:
Normative - Positive - Moral philosophy - Consent - Tacit

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Legitimacy is considered a basic condition for rule: without at least a minimal amount of legitimacy, a government will deadlock or collapse. Robert A. Dahl explains legitimacy using the metaphor of a reservoir: as long as it stays at a certain level stability is maintained, if it falls below this level it is endangered. Regimes are sometimes seen as requiring the assent of a large proportion of the population to retain power, but this need not necessarily be the case: many unpopular regimes have been known to survive provided they are seen as legitimate within a small but influential elite.

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In the case of laws, legitimacy should be distinguished from legality. Action can be legal without being legitimate (as in the case of an immoral law). Action can also be legitimate without being legal (as in the case of Rosa Parks' non-compliance). When sources of legitimacy conflict with each other, a constitutional crisis can often erupt.

Related Topics:
Legal - Rosa Parks - Constitutional crisis

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