Legitimacy (political)

Legitimacy (Latin legitimus, legitimately ) called in sociology, political science and law, the legality or worthiness to be recognized by people, institutions, regulations, etc. A legitimacy -owning state of affairs is legitimate. The other terms are illegitimacy and illegitimate.

Fields of application

• Legitimacy ( political science / public law ): worthiness to be recognized. The legality of a state, its system of government, or even of individual administrative acts by adhering to certain principles and values ​​, in contrast to the formal legality ( legality).
• In constitutional law, a legitimate government is constitutional, a legitimate ruler according to the succession in power, in both cases, therefore, entitled legally to govern, in contrast to the usurper who has attained a coup or other breach of the constitution the power or hold on to power.
• The " principle of legitimacy " ( in the form of kingship "by the Grace of God " ) was made at the Congress of Vienna Metternich to the principle of the policy (see also: legitimists ). Its contrast was the sovereignty of the people, that the choice of the ruler of the free self-determination of the people is left.
• The legitimacy of a child is primarily in European-influenced cultures family law whose descent from a lawful marriage.

Theories of legitimacy of state and government

Franz Oppenheimer

In the understanding of Franz Oppenheimer, the sociologist Karl Marx to understand the content and the life of the state power. The lawyer is interested in a formal legal description. The philosopher is interested in the ideal.

The sociological legitimacy may therefore based only on the reality. The people of the State confer the rule by enthusiasm or resignation, recognition ', as the legitimacy ( justification ) is understood. Due to the fact that most people carry the political system in this way, it gets stability and can maintain its power. If this recognition ' weak, then the stability of the rule would be weak. Sociological legitimacy and power of dominion therefore go hand in hand.

The sociological legitimacy of its authority thus can not be deduced from other principles than the state power, that is the real power of a state to itself is not bound by the formal legal, but to the de facto state power. She learns their legitimacy from within itself, that is to be defined by the power law and order ( new), so as to define the own formal legal legality and legitimacy.

Max Weber

Max Weber has defined three types of legitimate rule in the context of his sociology of domination. He distinguishes the -traditional, charismatic and rational rule.

Basis for validity of all legitimate rule is according to him the claim to legitimacy of the rulers and the legitimacy of the Faith ruled. In the traditional domination of the validity of reason is the supposed " sanctity " of the traditional order with their respective institutions, procedures and norms of action ( for example, by mandate of heaven ), in which charismatic leadership, it is the emotional devotion to a person because of their ascribed extraordinary properties, and in the rational rule, it is the belief in the legality gesatzter orders with its norms and rules.