Authority and legitimacy
Concept · Politics, stage 1: Learn the vocabulary
Authority is the right to issue commands that others have reason to obey, as distinct from the sheer power to make them comply. Legitimacy is what turns power into authority: a regime is legitimate when its right to rule is justified, not merely when it is obeyed. Theorists split over what does the justifying - consent, fair procedures, good outcomes, tradition, or legality - and over whether legitimacy is a moral standard or a description of what a population happens to believe.
Why it matters
It is the difference between a government and an armed gang, and every argument about whether a particular law must be obeyed starts here.
Part of
Authority and legitimacy in the glossary
Sources
- Political Legitimacy Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Authority Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyOn the difference between having power over someone and having authority over them.
- Political legitimacy Wikipedia
