political legitimacy
Justified governmental power
Political legitimacy is the recognized right of a government or authority to exercise power.
A regime has legitimacy when its citizens accept its rule as valid and proper, not merely because they fear punishment.
Legitimacy may derive from democratic elections, tradition, constitutional order, or perceived effectiveness: The coup government struggled to establish political legitimacy.
Without it, states rely increasingly on coercion.
- ballotVoting document
- constitutionalismGovernance bound by fundamental laws
- electionsFormal choosing of officials
- rule of lawSupremacy of established laws
- democracyRule by the people
consent of the governed · social contract · divine right · usurper · corruption · Locke · sovereignty · consent · Hobbes · charisma · Weber · accountability · judicial review · checks and balances · civic participation · mandate of heaven · human rights abuses · vote
political legitimacyillegitimacy
Lacking lawful authority
usurpation · tyranny · despotism · puppet government · dictatorship
political legitimacycoercion
Pressured compliance through threats
domination · oppression · subjugation · brute force · intimidation
political legitimacylegitimacy crisis
Doubt in rightful rule
delegitimization · political instability · failed state · civil war · revolution
policy, politics, legitimate, political, politician, policies, polity, politically, legitimacy