Legitimacy between Acceptance and Acceptability: A Subjects-First View.

Political realists argue that the concept of political legitimacy should be linked to subjects' beliefs, while still offering normative guidance. In this article, I suggest doing so by referring to the concepts of acceptance and acceptability. I argue that a regime is legitimate if its power is acce...

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Published in:Social Theory & Practice Vol. 48; no. 1; pp. 61 - 89
Main Author: Cozzaglio, Ilaria
Format: Article
Published: Florida State University Jan2022
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jan2022
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        atl: Legitimacy between Acceptance and Acceptability: A Subjects-First View.
      aug:
        au: Cozzaglio, Ilaria
        affil: Research Centre "Normative Orders", Goethe University Frankfurt
      su:
        Williams, Bernard, 1929-2003
        Legitimacy of governments
        Pragmatism
        Realism
        Political realism
      sug:
        subj:
          Legitimacy of governments
          Pragmatism
          Realism
          Political realism
          Williams, Bernard, 1929-2003
      keyword:
        Bernard Williams
        coherence
        fact-sensitivity
        legitimacy
        political realism
        politics-sensitivity
        pragmatism
        Bernard Williams
        coherence
        fact-sensitivity
        legitimacy
        political realism
        politics-sensitivity
        pragmatism
      ab: Political realists argue that the concept of political legitimacy should be linked to subjects' beliefs, while still offering normative guidance. In this article, I suggest doing so by referring to the concepts of acceptance and acceptability. I argue that a regime is legitimate if its power is accepted by subjects, provided that such acceptance meets the requirements of acceptability: subjects' beliefs about the regime's legitimacy need to successfully satisfy three requirements--coherence, fact-sensitivity, and politics-sensitivity--via entering public debate. I rely on pragmatism to investigate the link between subjects' beliefs and their experience of facing political authority.
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    language: English
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