What makes a ruler legitimate

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Whether the international community ultimately agrees with their claims is not directly a product of the success of these legitimation strategies, but the pervasiveness of legitimation claims is an indication that many groups believe that legitimation is worthwhile. The objective approach is inspired by normative political theory and seeks to identify normatively acceptable structures of rule. The objective approach is best understood as being about strategies of legitimation rather than about legitimacy itself.

Legitimacy should also be distinguished from legality. Legality may be used as an argument for legitimation, but the connection is not necessarily in this direction. Questions of legitimacy are distinct from questions of legality. Legitimacy, in this sense, is not an inherently conservative concept. For example, the bombing of Kosovo by NATO in defense of humanitarian goals has frequently been described as illegal because it was not approved by the UN Security Council but legitimate because it pursued a worthwhile goal using proportionate means.

Legitimacy is a belief, held by individuals, about the rightfulness of a rule or ruler. It has collective effects when it is widely shared in a society. In domestic political life, these effects may include a stable social order that appears consensual. In international political life, the effects of collectively held legitimated rules include social order but also implies the end of international anarchy.

In international political life, the effects of collectively held legitimated rules include social order but also perhaps the end of international anarchy. Buchanan, Allen. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Flathman, Richard E. Goodin and Philip Pettit eds.

A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy. Cambridge MA: Blackwell. Gaventa, John. Champaign: University of Illinois Press. Hardin, Russell. Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Hesli, Vicki L. Reisinger, and Arthur H. Tyler, Tom. Why People Obey the Law. New Haven: Yale University Press. Tyler, Tom R. Jost and Brenda Major eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Weber, Max. Economy and Society. Berkeley: University of California Press. Further Reading Baer, Josette. Assessing the Legitimacy of Secession. Clark, Ian. Legitimacy in International Society. Hechter, Michael. Principles of Group Solidarity. Include Synonyms Include Dead terms. A Unit of Study for Grades During the age of agriculturally based empires, various conquerors from the western Mediterranean to East Asia brought large population areas under their own centralized authority.

Gradually many of these conquerors came to realize that, although military might was necessary to gain control over an area, sheer force of arms was not sufficient to govern effectively and ensure the loyalty and obedience of one's subjects.