Legitimacy

Legitimacy
Author: Arthur Isak Applbaum
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2019-11-19
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0674241932


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At an unsettled time for liberal democracy, with global eruptions of authoritarian and arbitrary rule, here is one of the first full-fledged philosophical accounts of what makes governments legitimate. What makes a government legitimate? The dominant view is that public officials have the right to rule us, even if they are unfair or unfit, as long as they gain power through procedures traceable to the consent of the governed. In this rigorous and timely study, Arthur Isak Applbaum argues that adherence to procedure is not enough: even a properly chosen government does not rule legitimately if it fails to protect basic rights, to treat its citizens as political equals, or to act coherently. How are we to reconcile every person’s entitlement to freedom with the necessity of coercive law? Applbaum’s answer is that a government legitimately governs its citizens only if the government is a free group agent constituted by free citizens. To be a such a group agent, a government must uphold three principles. The liberty principle, requiring that the basic rights of citizens be secured, is necessary to protect against inhumanity, a tyranny in practice. The equality principle, requiring that citizens have equal say in selecting who governs, is necessary to protect against despotism, a tyranny in title. The agency principle, requiring that a government’s actions reflect its decisions and its decisions reflect its reasons, is necessary to protect against wantonism, a tyranny of unreason. Today, Applbaum writes, the greatest threat to the established democracies is neither inhumanity nor despotism but wantonism, the domination of citizens by incoherent, inconstant, and incontinent rulers. A government that cannot govern itself cannot legitimately govern others.


Legitimacy
Language: en
Pages: 305
Authors: Arthur Isak Applbaum
Categories: Philosophy
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-11-19 - Publisher: Harvard University Press

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At an unsettled time for liberal democracy, with global eruptions of authoritarian and arbitrary rule, here is one of the first full-fledged philosophical accou
The Right to Rule
Language: en
Pages: 415
Authors: Hugh De Santis
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021-01-06 - Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

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In The Right to Rule: American Exceptionalism and the Coming Multipolar World Order, Hugh De Santis explores the evolution of American exceptionalism and its ef
The Right to Rule and the Rights of Women
Language: en
Pages: 263
Authors: Arianne Chernock
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-08-08 - Publisher: Cambridge University Press

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Reveals Queen Victoria as a ruler who captivated feminist activists - with profound consequences for nineteenth-century culture and politics.
The Right to Rule
Language: en
Pages: 344
Authors: Bruce Gilley
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2009-03-03 - Publisher: Columbia University Press

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Popular perceptions of a state's legitimacy are inextricably bound to its ability to rule. Vast military and material reserves cannot counter the power of a cit
Kings Or People
Language: en
Pages: 708
Authors: Reinhard Bendix
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 1978 - Publisher: Univ of California Press

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"It is difficult to decide which is the more impressive: the authority and control with which Mr. Bendix writes of the traditions, the institutions, and the tec