Legitimacy (political)
In political science, legitimacy is the right and acceptance of an authority, usually a governing law or a régime. Whereas "authority" denotes a specific position in an established government, the term "legitimacy" denotes a system of government—wherein "government" denotes "sphere of influence". An authority viewed as legitimate often has the right and justification to exercise power. Political legitimacy is considered a basic condition for governing, without which a government will suffer legislative deadlock(s) and collapse. In political systems where this is not the case, unpopular régimes survive because they are considered legitimate by a small, influential élite. In Chinese political philosophy, since the historical period of the Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BC), the political legitimacy of a ruler and government was derived from the Mandate of Heaven, and unjust rulers who lost said mandate therefore lost the right to rule the people.
In moral philosophy, the term "legitimacy" is often positively interpreted as the normative status conferred by a governed people upon their governors' institutions, offices, and actions, based upon the belief that their government's actions are appropriate uses of power by a legally constituted government.
The Enlightenment-era British social philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) said that political legitimacy derives from popular explicit and implicit consent of the governed: "The argument of the (Second) Treatise is that the government is not legitimate unless it is carried on with the consent of the governed." The German political philosopher Dolf Sternberger said that "legitimacy is the foundation of such governmental power as is exercised, both with a consciousness on the government's part that it has a right to govern, and with some recognition by the governed of that right". The American political sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset said that legitimacy also "involves the capacity of a political system to engender and maintain the belief that existing political institutions are the most appropriate and proper ones for the society". The American political scientist Robert A. Dahl explained legitimacy as a reservoir: so long as the water is at a given level, political stability is maintained, if it falls below the required level, political legitimacy is endangered.
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* Are we at the stage where our government only has legitimacy because this small elite says it does? If this is true, are we doing ourselves any favors by going along with this charade?
* In terms of moral philosophy, the DC government's legitimacy should clearly be in question when we had legislators more worried about what their donors thought about the tax bill than their constituents. Donors are not anywhere in the Constitution by the way. Are we prepared to call this out? If not here, then where is the line?
* We keep seeing polls and the actions of legislators widely diverge from each other: War on Drugs, Planned Parenthood, and more. What is the reason for this? Why is this sustaining itself? Is it because we are letting it?
* Are we really going to have a Senator who says the rich should get tax cuts because everyone else just spends their money on "booze, or women, or movies" and we have the possibility of having another Senator who says America was great when we had slavery? In what version of our government is this the "most appropriate and proper" way to govern?
* Questioning legitimacy and withdrawing consent to be governed does not require revolution or even bloodshed... but we need to be brave. Can we do it?
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