Legitimacy Deficit Research Articles

‘Where is the Justice?’ Unauthorized Migrants’ Perceptions of the Legitimacy of the Dutch Immigration System

Abstract The legitimacy of immigration systems in a globalized world is questioned since individuals without legal status are excluded from states’ liberal political projects and presumed to hold beliefs different from those of the state. Drawing on ethnographic research with 105 unauthorized migrants in the Netherlands, this contribution demonstrates that these migrants may consider immigration systems to be legitimate if states lawfully enact them and provide access to their human rights. Yet, they believe that the Dutch authorities currently neglect these obligations, resulting in perceived legitimacy deficits. While some scholars advocate for new vocabulary to better understand these systems, I argue that the focus should be on changing these systems to ensure legitimacy and uphold the liberal principles of democracy.

Theorizing about emerging multinationals' cross‐border acquisitions

AbstractResearch SummaryThe emergence of multinational enterprises from emerging economies (emerging multinationals or EMNEs) has resulted in two puzzles: (1) Why do EMNEs often bid higher for targets in developed economies? (2) Why do EMNEs often allow such targets significant autonomy? From a theoretical standpoint, the two puzzles beg the question of whether an integrative answer exists. Extending property rights theory, we conceptualize an EMNE as a collection of assets over which an emerging‐economy firm has residual control, gained predominantly through cross‐border acquisitions. Leveraging a legitimacy‐based view, we suggest that EMNEs suffer from legitimacy deficits. Overall, the key to theorizing about EMNEs' cross‐border acquisitions and solving the two puzzles is to appreciate EMNEs' endeavors to simultaneously maximize joint value creation, minimize target incentive loss, and overcome legitimacy deficits.Managerial SummaryDriven by property rights thinking and legitimacy deficits considerations, multinational enterprises from emerging economies (emerging multinationals or EMNEs) often pay higher premiums for and grant significant autonomy to acquisition targets in developed economies. During the pre‐acquisition phase, EMNEs need to carefully evaluate targets' value‐creation potential and asset complementarity. During the post‐acquisition phase, offering autonomy to targets is advisable, if acquisition premiums are high, if pursued assets are knowledge‐based, and if target managers and employees as well as other stakeholders (such as host‐country governments) have raised major concerns. Although few EMNEs explicitly refer to research on property rights and legitimacy deficits, many of them have acted in a way that is consistent with such theoretical reasoning. Emerging‐economy acquirers that follow such reasoning often perform well.

Constitutional Reform in a Fragile and Conflict-Affected Environment? Outlook on Constitutional Reform Processes in Ethiopia

Abstract The Ethiopian Federal Constitution currently in force has hitherto been formally unreformed. This does not mean that there has been no societal pressure to reform; rather, the opposite is true. Since the time of its adoption, the Constitution has been a controversial document, and it has been subjected to substantial criticism both from within academic circles and from a wide range of political parties and other societal elites. Due to a lack of democratic space in the process of its development, the Federal Constitution has suffered from a legitimacy deficit, which has prevented the document from constituting the basis for a widely shared national identity or standard for common citizenship. These legitimacy problems have not benefited from the fact that the many identity-related tensions and conflicts that have ravaged the country and have prevented durable peace, stability, and sustainable socio-economic development are directly linked to the Constitution by its detractors. It seems that only a constitutional reform could offer a way out. Rather than focusing on the substance of constitutional reform, this paper concentrates on the process that should create a conducive environment for such substantive options to be debated and decided on. While the deep ethnic polarization and manifold public security problems currently afflicting Ethiopian society make such reform necessary, they simultaneously create a very challenging environment for a constitutional reform process to be adequately implemented and administered. In this regard, the paper argues that, apart from the necessity of securitization measures, the design of the constitutional reform process, which needs to be participatory and inclusive, can have a positive impact on both these security problems and on the development and drafting of a constitutional document that provides a widely agreed-upon and, hence, legitimate foundation for durable peace, stability, and sustainable socio-economic development.

CUSTOMARY LAND GOVERNANCE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION AMONG THE DEBNE AND WEIMA AFAR CLANS, NORTHEAST ETHIOPIA

This study is based on three months of fieldwork among the Debne and Weima Afar clans in Amibara woreda (district), Afar National Regional State (ANRS), Ethiopia, which was conducted in three rounds in 2016, 2018 and 2022. The purpose of the study is to explore the customary organisational structure and the rules and regulations employed by the local communities in managing natural resources on their rangelands as well as in resolving conflicts. While the clan system provides the basis for the Afar social and political organisation, claims to land are made at subclan and lineage levels. The formal administration largely functions using the clan structure, as it has more legitimacy than the state itself. Given the infrastructural limitations and legitimacy deficits of the government in the region, this paper argues that the clan system continues to play a dominating role when it comes to social organisation, resource management and conflict resolution. This article was published open access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ .

Multistakeholder Partnerships for Sustainable Development: Promises and Pitfalls

This review examines the promises and pitfalls of multistakeholder partnerships (MSPs) for sustainable development. We take stock of the literature on the creation, effectiveness, and legitimacy of MSPs and focus on recent research on MSPs committed to achieving the 2030 Agenda and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2030 Agenda conceives of MSPs as vehicles to achieve large-scale sustainability transformations. Yet, research on MSPs under earlier sustainable development initiatives found that they had limited effectiveness and significant legitimacy deficits. We show that recent research on SDG partnerships suggests they reproduce many of the shortcomings of their predecessors and so are unlikely to foster synergies and minimize trade-offs between areas of sustainable development to deliver transformations on a global scale. We also examine recent research on the prospects of governing MSPs to enhance accountability and ensure better institutional designs for achieving transformations, highlighting challenges arising from international political contestation.

Communicating Expectations: Informing Strategic Communications by Conservation Level Segmentation and Impression Management Preferences

In the United States, collaboration between landowners and endangered species conservation (ESC) organizations is required to accomplish conservation goals. However, collective action for ESC is stymied by governance legitimacy deficits. Strategic communication is a tool used to accomplish organizational goals that can restore legitimacy through communications that re-align governance institutions with societal notions of appropriateness. Strategic communication, though, has yet to be investigated in the context of landowners and ESC. To illustrate how strategic communication can increase ESC collaboration, we surveyed 956 owners in Houston toad range in Texas to elicit their preferences for stewardship and communication constructs. Findings revealed distinct segments of landowners based on their stewardship preferences that preferred different types of communications. If ESC agencies are to enhance legitimacy amongst an increasingly heterogeneous landowner audience, they will want to adopt landowner-centric governance and communication strategies that account for differences in landowner conservation values, ESC experiences, and organizational expectations.

신라 하대의 쿠데타와 대외교섭

The late period of Silla was marked by frequent coups, reflecting the internal instability and political volatility within Silla society. These events played a crucial role in shifting the power dynamics and reshaping the political order within Silla. When successful, new monarchs would actively engage in foreign diplomacy, especially strengthening relations with the Tang, as part of their efforts to overcome political instability and secure international legitimacy. Such diplomatic activities were essential for elevating Silla's international standing and establishing the legitimacy of the new monarchy both domestically and internationally. For the kings who ascended to power through coups during the late Silla period, prioritizing relations with Tang, the major power of the time, was a critical strategy in the international political environment. Friendly relations with Tang provided Silla with political support and stability, contributing to overcoming internal instability caused by coups and securing recognition and support from the international community. The dispatch of envoys to Tang by the kings who ascended through coups right after their coronation can be seen as part of this strategy, revealing Silla's intention to emphasize its legitimacy internationally and to secure internal political stability through diplomatic relations. Specifically, the use of unconventional diplomatic strategies by Kings Seondeok and Heondeok, such as intentionally concealing the news of their accession, can be interpreted as an effort to overcome the legitimacy deficit caused by the coups. The prioritization of diplomacy with Tang by the monarchs of late Silla who came to power through coups was a pragmatic choice considering Silla's position in the international political environment. The close diplomatic relations with Tang brought political stability and international support to Silla, playing a significant role in overcoming the internal instability caused by the coups. This strategy indicates Silla's efforts to secure international legitimacy and overcome the political instability resulting from the coups. On the other hand, the lack of official diplomacy with Japan suggests that Silla did not see significant benefits in diplomatic relations with Japan at the time or placed more emphasis on its relations with Tang. This indicates that Silla's foreign policy was focused on securing its position and legitimacy in the international arena, primarily through its relationship with Tang, rather than establishing formal diplomatic ties with Japan.

Legitimacy deficits in the private higher education sector: categories in evaluating Russian universities

ABSTRACT This paper explores the regulators’ perspective and demonstrates how legitimacy deficits of private universities outweigh performance results in decisions regarding university inspections. We examined the period when the regulator had an urgent claim on Russian universities, particularly during the campaign to ‘clean the system of higher education’ announced in 2013. The Russian case of delayed regulation provides a unique natural phenomenon for studying how evaluators choose which universities to inspect. This study relies on administrative data on university inspections, which are merged with the results of annual evaluations of universities conducted by the Ministry from 2013 to 2016, encompassing 8227 cases. Our findings indicate that private universities and their branches are more likely to undergo inspection than public HEIs, even after considering information about their performance results. For state officials, private institutions exemplify market logic, which is seen as a competing rule of the game to state logic. These results suggest that organizational categories hold considerable promise for further research as they may contribute to understanding how universities are evaluated and scrutinized, a phenomenon typically considered as driven by performance-based criteria.

Performance without legitimacy? Examining the performance-legitimacy dilemma of China’s authoritarian environmentalism model through Hebei’s ‘ban on coal furnace’ project

ABSTRACT Mainstream environmental politics tends to measure the success of a policy through its quantitative environmental performance. Under Xi's rule, China's model of ‘Authoritarian Environmentalism’ is often assessed for its effectiveness; however, the facets of policy legitimacy have largely been overlooked. This research explores the policy legitimacy deficit of China's authoritarian environmentalism by examining the case of ‘Ban on Coal Furnace’ (BCF) project in Hebei province. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and policy discourse analysis, this article suggests that while the BCF project succeeded in environmental performance, both in policy outputs and outcomes, it failed in maintaining policy legitimacy essential for sustaining these policy outcomes over the long term. Integrating the three distinctive aspects of policy outputs, outcomes and legitimacy, this study highlights an inherent Performance-Legitimacy dilemma within China's Authoritarian Environmentalism: on the one hand, the top leader's strong political will is crucial for achieving effective performance. On the other hand, however, policy legitimacy may suffer when local officials adopt an excessively coercive campaign-style implementation approach that overlooks local needs and interests.

In the Eyes of the Beholders: The Legitimacy of Global Governance Institutions under Multipolarity

Abstract Multipolarity has ambiguous implications for the legitimacy of global governance institutions (GGIs). Rising powers’ capacity to contest established powers’ agendas prima facie increases the GGIs’ legitimacy by reducing power asymmetries between the North and South. However, according to some, the rise of new powers has contributed to the GGIs’ poor performance and inadequate representativeness. We investigate how global publics evaluate the legitimacy of two GGIs—the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Group of Twenty (G20)—and multipolarity’s role in those evaluations. Drawing on an original dataset of 3,584 newspaper articles sampled from rising and established powers, mid-ranking developing, and least developed countries between 2008 and 2019, our qualitative content analysis found an intensification of legitimacy deficits over time. Regularly accredited to a new global power configuration, the inability to find consensus severely harmed both institutions’ legitimacy. We also see the resilience of GGIs’ legitimacy in the face of gridlocks and institutional fragmentation. Replacing inclusive multilateral agreements with bilateral or inter-regional ones was widely seen as an undesired outcome of major power tensions. Finally, our data revealed a deep-seated mistrust of great power politics and nostalgia for meaningful multilateral institutions as a potential antidote.

Article: Throughput Legitimacy of the Peer Review Process of the Four Beps Minimum Standards: A Case Study

This article focuses on the Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project and more specifically on the peer review of the four BEPS minimum standards. The first part of this contribution introduces the analysis of this process in the context of a case study of seven countries participating in the BEPS Inclusive Framework: Cameroon, Congo, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Peru, Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam. Thereafter, this article will provide the analysis of the peer review process by using the concept of throughput legitimacy developed by Schmidt (in other areas than tax law) that includes accountability, transparency, inclusiveness and openness. Its use can contribute to enhancing the governance of the peer review process and increasing legitimacy at the same time and thereby strengthening countries’ compliance with the four BEPS minimum standards. Its use can also facilitate helping countries that are part of the BEPS Inclusive Framework to build trust in the peer review process. In light of the findings of the case study, this article concludes that there are throughput legitimacy deficits and that these should be addressed by the OECD and countries participating in the BEPS Inclusive Framework. This article’s preliminary findings can be used for further research by the OECD, regional organizations, scholars, civil society, and think tanks to improve countries’ compliance with the four BEPS minimum standards. Beps, Peer Review Process, OECD, International Taxation, Legitimacy, Throughput Legitimacy, Inclusive Framework, Developing Countries

Article: Power and Expertise in Global Tax Governance

It is a rather broadly held misconception that the project on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) began in September 2013 when the G20 Leaders’ endorsed the OECD’s Action Plan on BEPS.1 The general acceptance of this narrative is understandable and perhaps largely trivial. However, it does tell us something important about our tendency to focus on the foreground of issues – on the immediate and obvious. When public focus is narrowed down to notable events, such as the G20 Leaders’ summits, the background work of tax experts fades out of focus. Often, the work of the expert is not even associated with the idea of public power and authority; it is reduced to something concerned with mere technicalities. Yet, it is the expert who outlines the agenda and prepares the discussion drafts and executive summaries that inform the (political) actor in the foreground of the issues that, based on objective expert knowledge, should somehow be addressed in one way or another. The more complex the issue, the less that the actor in the foreground has the technical ability to assess the merits of the experts’ proposition. Sometimes, owing to our desire to be confident in our ability to grasp difficult concepts, we may ultimately support the expert who makes the claim of superior knowledge over an issue we do not fully comprehend precisely as a result of our lack of understanding so as to deny or conceal this deficiency. Occasionally, such false confidence of the foreground actor in their ability to assess the propositions of the expert may result in a feedback loop in which the ideas of the expert appear to legitimize the power of the foreground actor, and this power subsequently appears to legitimize the expert’s ideas. This article will discuss the role of experts and the everyday power they use in the realm of global tax governance. To date, such a discussion has largely escaped the agenda of legal academic discussion.3 Yet, the importance of the discussion on expert power in tax is paramount; unawareness over this constituent element of the current paradigm results in an inability to address what is known as the legitimacy deficit of global tax governance. This will continue to reproduce global power imbalance in favour of the privileged and at the expense of the disenfranchized. The development of international tax norms into a regime of global tax governance will serve as a framework for this discussion thereby rendering the role of experts working under the auspices of the League of Nations and, subsequently, the OECD at the center of the focus. Global tax governance, technocracy, politics of taxation, experts, framing, BEPS, structural bias, legitimacy

Three Levels of Authoritarian Legitimacy

Who does a personalist authoritarian ruler designate as their successor, and what makes the transition of presidency to them peaceful in the short term? This article argues that these questions can be fruitfully approached from the perspective of political legitimacy, thus contributing to the further conceptualization of legitimacy in autocracies. By analyzing the 2019 leadership succession in Kazakhstan, the article develops a model of multi-level legitimacy that differentiates between three interconnected levels of legitimacy enjoyed by political actors among the general population, the elite, and the international community. The article tracks the legitimation process and the estimated level of legitimacy of three key political actors (Nazarbaev, Tokaev, and Nazarbaeva) from the immediate pre-resignation period until the political crisis of January 2022, covering both phases of succession: Nazarbaev’s exit from and Tokaev’s entry to power. To estimate the actors’ level of legitimacy on the three analytical levels of the model, the article draws from a diverse dataset consisting of public opinion polls, expert commentary, and international actors’ statements. The article finds that in the initial transition process, the estimated level of legitimacy enjoyed by both Nazarbaev and Tokaev was relatively high in all three levels, in contrast to Nazarbaeva’s. It argues that Nazarbaev’s and Tokaev’s legitimacy contributed to the transition’s initial peaceful nature, but Nazarbaeva’s legitimacy deficit resulted in her marginalization in the succession process. The political turmoil of January 2022 demonstrates that a succession that is peaceful in the short term can paradoxically contain the seeds of a succession conflict erupting later.

Regulation theory and the reform of vocational education in New Zealand

ABSTRACT This article critically evaluates the Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) reforms in New Zealand which were prompted by a financial crisis in the sector. Despite the best efforts of policy makers, faith in New Zealand’s market-led system has been in decline for many years and the RoVE takes the decline in faith in New Zealand’s market-led system a decisive step further. Drawing on the regulation theory and new localism literatures, this article argues that RoVE has emerged as the latest flanking mechanism, or palliative activity, designed primarily to address legitimation deficits created by the decline in the efficacy of New Zealand’s market-led system of VE.

The Prosecutor v Dominic Ongwen case before the International Criminal Court: A Twail-er’s perspective

This paper explores whether the International Criminal Court (ICC or ‘the court’) has lived up to the expectation of being an effective and universal mechanism of international criminal justice and accountability, by using the judgment of the Prosecutor v Dominic Ongwen as a case study. Ongwen was convicted by the court’s Trial Chamber (TC) IX in February 2021, on 61 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated in Northern Uganda between July 2002 and December 2005, and sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment. The Appeals Chamber (AC) confirmed both the conviction and sentence in a judgment rendered on 15 December 2022. It will be argued from a Third World approaches to international law (TWAIL) perspective, that the court missed an opportunity to improve its institutional legitimacy, considering the legitimacy deficit stemming from claims by African states that the ICC is biased against Africa. The paper will also argue that the court missed an opportunity to improve its own decision-making by expanding its source material to include sources from the Global South.

The internationalization of state-owned enterprises in liberalized markets: the role of home-country pro-market reforms

We study how home-country factors can alter the impact of host-country conditions on the location decisions of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Specifically, we examine the role of home-country pro-market reforms in facilitating SOEs’ entry into host countries with a free-market logic. We consider two types of home-country pro-market reforms: market liberalization and privatization. We propose that home market liberalization mainly mitigates SOEs’ market legitimacy deficit and facilitates their entry into host countries with a prominent free-market logic. In such contexts, businesses perceive SOEs from more liberalized home markets as more accustomed to market competition and thus are less likely to exert pressure on the host government against them. We also argue that furthering SOEs’ privatization mitigates SOEs’ political legitimacy deficit in host countries with a free-market logic, thus facilitating entry. In these contexts, host governments perceive more privatized SOEs as more independent from their home state due to reduced political connections. We find support for our arguments in a dataset of 97 telecom SOEs from 97 countries over the period 1990–2010. Our study advances research on SOEs’ internationalization and research on pro-market reforms and has relevant implications for managers and policymakers.

Electoral Legitimacy and Gender Representation Barriers; Theories and Practices in Nigeria

The article describes relevant concepts and theories on Gender Representation and Electoral Legitimacy behaviours and barriers that obstruct global policies for gender equity model to a free and fair election. The limiting barriers and theories described, include Class-Conflict versus Representation Theory, Gender vs Culture, Electoral Legitimacy Deficit vs Dominance Theory, Machismo Culture, Institutional concept, Human Capital, Feminist Rights Concepts (FGF) and the UN Think, Assess, Consider, and Take Action (UNTACT) Concept. The article adopts a descriptive secondary qualitative method to gather data on the key theories, barriers and practices affecting gender representation electoral. Data collection include previous studies, articles, reports, publications, and Electoral Commission official documents already generated. These various sources of information gathered, was critically examined, reviewed, analysed, and synthesized to understand the context in which gender representation barriers exist. Research results indicted Nigeria Electoral process as extremely unreliable at the output-delivery process, and thus, criticised for having flaws and failing to completely enforce candidate electoral rules, which impacts female representation. However, the research contributed to a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding electoral theories, practices and their impact on electoral system’s legitimacy. Findings suggest, importance of challenging patriarchal electioneering structures, cultural norms, and power imbalances in the political sphere and the need for power dynamics to be examined critically, to deliver effective gender or female representation. Keywords: Electoral Legitimacy, Gender Representation, Theories, Barriers, Nigeria.

Political Legitimacy and the Indigenous Voice to Parliament

ABSTRACTThis article sets out an argument from legitimacy for the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament in Australia. The article first sets out an understanding of political legitimacy and of legitimacy deficits and argues that the Australian Government faces a legitimacy deficit with respect to its exercise of political power and authority over Indigenous Australians. The deficit arises, it is argued, because Indigenous Australians face significant structural injustice and there is little hope of redressing this injustice within the prevailing governing conventions. The article then argues that the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament ought to be seen as part of a package to address this legitimacy deficit by resetting the governing conventions of Australian society. The argument from legitimacy is then compared favorably with more familiar arguments from sovereignty and the right to self‐determination.

Soft law regulation and labour rights reporting: a deficit in moral legitimacy?

ABSTRACT This paper compares and contrasts British and German transnational corporations’ (TNCs) reporting on the labour rights of workers in their global value chains (GVCs) for the years 2012 and 2018, using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines – an initiative that comes under the category of soft law regulation. Between these dates, regulatory changes took place in Britain and in the EU which had relevance to the reporting of labour rights issues more generally. Simultaneously the GRI reporting guidelines shifted to more flexible requirements in the transition from G3.1 to G4. This paper examines the consequences of these changes and finds that, in combination, these changes did not lead TNCs to improving the labour rights reporting. The paper suggests that even though reporting to international guidelines tends to be context-based, there was some convergence in this broadly negative outcome. This all suggests that there was an element of regulatory capture in the shifts to softer regulatory regimes. Conceptually, this points to a reduction in substantive disclosures and leads to a deficit in moral legitimacy and its displacement by more pragmatic legitimacy.

Exploring social enterprise legitimacy within ecosystems from an institutional approach: A systematic literature review and research agenda

AbstractThe legitimation of social enterprises is contingent upon the institutional context and targeted stakeholders; however, this claim has not been explored systematically, considering existing legitimacy strategies. Understanding the reasons behind the pursuit of legitimacy and the strategies that can be employed in specific contexts is paramount for social enterprises to obtain legitimacy and enhance positive social impact. This paper undertakes a systematic literature review at the intersection of social enterprise legitimacy, institutional theory and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Drawing on articles in journals included in the Web of Science database, the review enhances understanding of social enterprise legitimacy research through institutional contextualization by answering the question: ‘Why and how do social enterprises aim to obtain legitimacy in different contexts and towards which ecosystem actors?’ Six main reasons why social enterprises pursue legitimacy are identified, namely: to acquire tangible (financial and material) and intangible (community support and trust) resources; to compete with commercial businesses and non‐governmental organizations; to comply with stakeholder demands; to overcome institutional challenges; to create social impact; and to bring about institutional change. Alongside these reasons for legitimacy pursuit, legitimacy strategies and the addressed actors and institutions are identified and synthesized into three categories: institutional context dependency; closeness to the audience; and multidimensionality and process perspective, identifying promising avenues for further research that are more context‐sensitive. The review provides guidance for social enterprises seeking to identify and adapt legitimacy strategies, enabling them to address the pressing issues of legitimacy deficits that continue to hamper the generation of social impact.