Legitimacy of forest and nature conservation policy: A conceptual framework with illustrations

Abstract

The central challenge for sustainable forest policies is their legitimacy among the people: are the political decision-making processes and their outcomes perceived as just according to prevalent social values? However, there is no established theoretical basis for the legitimacy research in the forest sector. This study develops a valid and comprehensive conceptual framework for empirical studies on legitimacy. The theoretical analysis is verified by detailed empirical illustrations from the public discourse on the Finnish forest regime. The theoretical framework analyzes the objects of support, patterns of legitimacy, performance evaluations, and how these relate to one another. The objects of political support can be classified as political community, regime norms, regime institutions, and actors. The patterns of legitimacy can be analyzed at different levels: (A) democracy and other forms of government, (B) different forms of participation, and (C) normative principles. The principles can be further classified into (1) core regime, (2) input, (3) throughput, and (4) output principles. Moreover, all these patterns of legitimacy can be usefully arranged in (1) democratic, (2) extra-democratic, and (3) counter-democratic classes.