Legitimacy

Dr. Tasiu Magaji

 Legitimacy
1. S.M. Lipset : Legitimacy involves the capacity
of the system to engender and maintain the
belief that the existing political institutions
are most appropriate one’s for the society.
2. Jean Blondel : Legitimacy can be defined as
the extent to which the population accept
naturally without questioning the
organisation to which it belongs.
3. It is useful to remember the phrase:
“Authority is legitimate power”.
 Legitimacy: The Sense of
Rightfulness

Legitimacy is usually defined as ‘rightfulness’.

If power is the ability to get other people to
do what you want them to do, authority can be
seen as having the right to do this.
 Max Weber
• According to Max Weber people give their
consent to the rule of three different types of
authority:

• Charismatic

• Traditional

• Rational legal
 Max Weber
• Charismatic Authority:People consent to be ruled by people
with special human qualities. Such qualities inspire loyalty
and obedience. Fear may also be a factor!
• Examples throughout history include: Napoleon, Hitler,
Gandhi
• Traditional Authority: Some people accept the power and
rule of others because there is a long standing tradition of
things being like that.
• The British Royal family could be said to have traditional
authority (although they have little real power.)
• Similarly a society that venerates age (where elders rule)
often does so on the grounds of tradition e.g. some Native
American tribes.
 Max Weber
• Rational Legal Authority: In modern societies
authority is made legitimate by the
acceptance of an established set of sensible
rules, laws and procedures by the majority of
the population.
• For example the authority of Parliament and
the Prime Minster.
 Lack of Legitimacy Example
Theresa May
British Prime Minister
Home Secretary 2010 – 2016 – a
popular Home Secretary, seen as
tough and ‘no nonsense’
David Cameron resigned post
Brexit (2016), Theresa May won
leadership election unchallenged
(opposing candidate dropped out)
Lacked legitimacy as she hadn’t
won an election
Called General Election in 2017 to
gain a strong majority
Conservative majority lost – seats
dropped from 330 to 317
Had to form alliance with right
wing Northern Irish DUP
Hasn’t won an election, claims of
‘strong and stable’ ridiculed
 Government of Northern Ireland
Until relatively recently, a significant
number of people (mainly Catholics) did
not see the political system as
legitimate
The government eventually sent in
British troops and other means to
maintain their power
AKA ‘The Troubles’ – ultimately civil
war
The Nationalists (Catholics) felt
discriminated against by the Unionist
(Protestant) majority
The main attempts to resolve the
Troubles have focused on trying to
establish a government everyone sees
as legitimate
The Good Friday Agreement 1998
introduced a power-sharing system
between the Unionists and Nationalists
(although this has recently been in
crisis)
What gives a person or group
legitimacy?
 The Different Ways in which
Legitimacy may be enabled
Communism – legitimacy came from having won a civil
war or an uprising; the Victors in a struggle
Constitutionalism - The popular belief and acceptance
that the actions of the government are legitimate
because they abide by the law codified in the political
constitution.
Democracy: The elected government abides by
democratic principles in governing, and thus is legally
accountable to its people
Fascism: Fascism based its political legitimacy upon the
arguments of traditional authority; respectively, the
German National Socialists and the Italian Fascists
claimed they were legitimate because democracy was
not
Monarchy – The ‘Divine Right’ of Kings – chosen by God
 The impact of Lack of Legitimacy
what happens when a leader or
government loses or lacks legitimacy?
Political Unrest – for example Catalonia – The Spanish
government’s violent reaction to the Catalonian’s
‘illegitimate’ referendum
Civil War/ Violence – for example The Troubles in
Northern Ireland as the Catholic minority believed
the government lacked legitimacy
Political Instability – for example Weimar Germany’s
successive coalition governments and lack of majority
governments led to 9 elections in 10 years 1918-28
and the eventual collapse of German Democracy
Power Vacuum/ Power Struggle– for example when
Saddam Hussein was deposed/ died it led to conflict
between the Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims in the country
These results are often interlinked
Legitimacy and the Electoral System
For a government to be legitimate, they must
have the authority to act on behalf of the
people.
A crucial part of our political process which
produces legitimacy is the electoral system.
It should be fair, free and competitive.
In Britain, in particular, the legitimacy of
governments has been increasingly called into
question because of the way in which the
electoral system works.
Specifically, this has involved the increasing
failure of the electoral system to produce
proportional results, and governments, which
reflect the will of the people.
 Is the British political system
legitimate?
The UK
Government is
elected using a
system called
First Past the
Post
In groups,
create a spider
diagram on how
this system
works
 Higher Politics Class Pet
Cat
Budgie
Iguana
Hamster
 FPTP
Simple Voting
System
‘Winner Takes
All’
Easy to
understand and
simple
Easy to see who
wins
 Why do some people say governments
elected through FPTP lack legitimacy?
The % of votes a party gets across the country
does not relate to the % of seats they take in
the House of Commons
Many votes are wasted or surplus – once
someone has ‘won’ the other votes don’t matter
It means British governments have rarely
achieved 50% or more of the popular vote
One party can actually form a government with
fewer votes nationally than a competitor
Many critics of FPTP argue that it produces
governments which lack legitimacy
 UK Electoral System
The 2015 General Election has been
described as THE most disproportionate
election result of all time.
The Conservatives were elected to run the
country, on its own for five years, on the basis
of 36.9% of the votes cast.
UKIP won almost 4 million votes but gained
just 1 MP.
Had STV or a more proportional system had
been in place, UKIP would have won 54 seats,
the Liberal Democrats 26, instead of 8, and
the Greens 3 instead of 1.
Legitimacy and the Electoral System
Nationally this means that governments in
Britain are very rarely elected with more
than 50% of the vote in a General Election.
In fact in the 20th century this has
happened only twice, in 1900 and in 1931.
The system can also produce a situation
where one party can win more seats than any
other, but with fewer votes than another
party.
This happened in February 1974 when the
Conservatives polled 37.9% of the vote, with
Labour second with 37.1%. However Labour
had 301 MPs to the Conservatives 297, and,
as such, formed the government.
 However…
In 2011, a referendum was held
offering the British people the
option to keep FPTP or move to
the more proportional
Alternative Vote (AV) system
Turnout was 42.2%
67.9% of those voted to keep
FPTP
However is this a legitimate
referendum?
Also – many people argue FPTP
is simple, produces a clear
winner quickly and is easily
understood by people
(especially old people)
 Debate Topic
Britain should abandon FPTP in
favour of a system which
produces governments with
legitimacy.
SUPPORT –
OPPOSE –
 Legitimate Rule Example
North Korea
Kim Jong-un is the third supreme leader in the Kim
dynasty, founded by his grandfather Kim il-Sung,
the country's leader at the time of its
establishment.
Kim Jong-un took over from his father Kim Jong-il.
Heavily criticised as no democratic elections are
held
Leadership dependant upon the cult of personality,
no free press and accused of sustained human
rights abuses.
 Legitimate Rule?
North Korea
This would suggest power without legitimacy.
In addition, North Koreans are legally expected to turn up to
vote but they do not make a choice.
Ballot papers have already been filled out with pre-approved
candidates. Usually have one candidate on the ballot paper.
Voting is compulsory for everyone over the age of 17. Failing to
take advantage of the opportunity to show support for the
government is tantamount to treason.
It is regarded as political offence as it means that, politically,
someone is against the regime.
Therefore no such thing as democratically elections therefore
the regime has power but lacks legitimacy.
Elections are just for show and used as propaganda by the
regime to show that people are supporting the Kim regime.