Recently, cases have become more frequent when the peoples of certain countries express distrust of the authorities of their states, while in the press such terms as "legitimacy" and "illegitimacy" appear. For many, it remains unclear what these concepts mean.
Legitimacy: what is it?
The term "legitimacy" comes from the Latin word legitimus, which translates as "legitimate, consonant with the laws, lawful." In political science, this term denotes the voluntary recognition by the people of the state power of the right to make decisions concerning the entire people. In the scientific literature, one can find complete answers to the questions: "The term" legitimacy "- what is it? How to understand the expression" legitimacy of power "?" So, this is a political and legal term, which means an approving attitude of the citizens of the country towards the institutions of power. Naturally, in such countries, the supreme power is legitimate. However, when the term first came into use, it meant something completely different. It was in the beginning19th century France, during the years of the usurpation of power by Napoleon. Some group of French people wanted to restore the only legitimate authority of the king. It was this aspiration of the monarchists that was called the term “legitimacy”. That this is more in line with the meaning of the Latin word legitimus becomes immediately obvious. At the same time, the Republicans began to use this term as a recognition of this state and the power established on its territory by other states. In the modern sense, legitimacy is the voluntary acceptance of power by the masses, who constitute the majority. Moreover, this approval is primarily associated with a moral assessment: their ideas about nobility, justice, conscience, decency, etc. In order to win the trust of the masses, the government tries to instill in them the idea that all its decisions and actions are aimed at the benefit of the people.
Types of legitimacy of power
The great German sociologist and philosopher Max Weber introduced the typology of the legitimacy of power. According to her, there are traditional, charismatic and rational legitimacy.
- Traditional legitimacy. What it is? In some states, the masses blindly believe that power is sacred, and obeying it is inevitable and necessary. In such societies, power acquires the status of tradition. Naturally, a similar picture is observed in those states in which the leadership of the country is inherited (kingdom, emirate, sultanate, principality, etc.).
- Charismatic legitimacy is formed onthe basis of people's belief in the exceptional dignity and authority of a particular political leader. In such countries, the formation of the so-called personality cult is possible. Thanks to the charisma of the leader, the people begin to believe in the entire political system that reigns in the country. People experience emotional delight and are ready to strictly obey it in everything. Usually this type of leader develops at the dawn of revolutions, changes in political power, etc.
- Rational or democratic legitimacy is formed due to the people's recognition of the justice of the actions and decisions of those in power. This type is found in complex organized societies. In this case, legitimacy has a normative basis.
Legitimacy of the State
The idea of a legitimate state comes from two concepts: power and legitimacy. A state of this type, in fact, has every right to demand obedience from its citizens, since in these societies the rule of law comes first. Consequently, regardless of the personalities of individual members of the government, the people must obey the laws in force in this state. If citizens do not satisfy these laws, and they do not want to obey them, then they have several options: emigration (departure from a given state to another), overthrow of power (revolution), disobedience, which is fraught with punishment provided for in the legislation of this country. The legitimate state is a mechanism for transferring the right to choose from one generation to another.
