Reviving democracy: Creating pathways out of legitimacy crises

Political Legitimacy and Democracy

The stability and functioning of any kind of political regime—including democratic or representative ones—relies on the combination of the capacity of rulers and government officials to use coercion and the development of political legitimacy. Political legitimacy can be described as people's recognition and acceptance of the validity of the rules of their entire political system and the decisi...

Legitimacy and American Democracy

Legality and legitimacy of exporting democracy

The George W. Bush jr administration explicitly declared its aim to spread democracy militarily. Is such an intention legal under current international law, norms and institutions? If one proves it to be at odds with the criterion of legality – since it clearly contradicts one of the main pillars of the UN Charter, i.e. the principle of non-interference –, can it be justified with recourse to t...

The Rule of Law and the Legitimacy of Constitutional Democracy

The rule of law is a cornerstone of contemporary constitutional democracy1 as was underscored by its role in cementing the recent transitions from authoritarian or totalitarian regimes2 to constitutional democracy in Eastern Europe and elsewhere.3 In the broadest terms, the rule of law requires that the state only subject the citizenry to publicly promulgated laws, that the state’s legislative ...

Creating State Legitimacy – the Five Basic Models

In this paper, I will challenge the widespread idea that democratic elections can be the main instrument for creating political legitimacy and discuss what other types and forms of political practices that may (and may not) create political legitimacy. The argument I criticize is that people will accept a political authority because they have been given the right to take part in “free and fair ...