Legitimate Authority Research Articles

China's Policy Response to Nancy Pelosi's Visit to Taiwan: The Influence of Nationalism Revisited

This article focuses on China's policy response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August 2022. Pelosi's action triggered a surge of popular nationalist sentiments in China, but the response of the Chinese government was far less tough than what many popular nationalists had expected. The article argues that the Chinese government's policy choice in response to Pelosi's visit to Taiwan did not depend on the demands of popular nationalists, but rather was based on a cost-benefit analysis according to its perceptions. The influence of popular nationalism on the government's foreign policy choices has been exaggerated owing to an overestimation of the government's reliance on nationalism for its regime legitimacy, and an underestimation of the government's control over public opinion and nationalist activities.

Trade, Piecework, and the Liberty Principle

AbstractJohn Stuart Mill does not contradict himself in On Liberty with respect to the issue of piecework, contrary to Dale E. Miller's charge that he does. Miller fails to understand that the liberty principle (LP) limits society's authority to regulate trade in that society has no legitimate authority to prohibit or make unduly expensive a buyer's post-trade use of his purchased product in self-regarding ways. LP gives an employer who has purchased labor under a trade contract in a free and fair competitive labor market a right to conclude a separate mutually consensual self-regarding piecework contract with any skilled worker already in his employ.

A Millian Case against Epistemic Arguments for Federalism

AbstractJohn Stuart Mill is central to parallel debates in mainstream contemporary political epistemology and philosophy of federalism concerning the epistemic dimension(s) of legitimate authority. Many scholars invoke Mill to support epistemic arguments for democratic decision-making and decentralized federalism as a means of conferring democratic legitimacy. This article argues that Millian considerations instead provide reason to reject common epistemic arguments for decentralized federalism. Combining Mill's own insights about the epistemic costs of decentralization and recent work in philosophy, politics, and economics undermines purportedly Millian arguments for federalism focused on political experimentation, diversity and participation. Contrary to many interpretations, Millian considerations weaken, rather than strengthen, arguments for federalism. Any valid justification for federalism must instead rest on non-epistemic considerations. This conclusion is notable regardless of how one interprets Mill. But it also supports Mill's stated preference for local decisions subject to central oversight.

The impact of government legitimacy on the tourism industry during crises

Tourism services are particularly vulnerable to crises because of their hedonic and transitory nature. Notably, external crises have destination-wide negative impacts, which require a collective response usually led by governments for a more effective recovery. Despite the consensus on governments’ role and legitimacy in mitigating crises recovery, there is a dearth of research identifying these tools facilitating intervention and their effectiveness. Thus, the paper aims to explore various government crises mitigation strategies for the tourism industry. This research is based on a mixed-method approach. First, it explores government responses to crises through semi-structured interviews with industry stakeholders. Then, we conduct a survey to target industry experts and measure the effectiveness of government responses and their impact on various key performance indicators during crises. From an academic point of view, the research contributes to an understanding of the efficiency of different government recovery intervention methods, which are overlooked in crisis management theory. Based on managerial contributions, the study provides an effective design of the public tools for more crisis-immune businesses, where governments should prioritise managing external crises by establishing processes, standards, support services, information and communication.

Innovating Imihigo: a decentralisation and indigenous governance mechanism in Rwanda

ABSTRACT Imihigo, Rwanda’s flagship performance barometer, is praised for its cultural innovation while being criticised for instrumentalising the regime’s international credibility. Both views gloss over several thematic points, including the strategic self-criticism Imihigo affords. We triangulate fieldwork data collected from local government actors and non-state agents in four districts with secondary data to analyse the quotidian strategies undergirding the spread of, and governance responses to, Imihigo. Our analysis demonstrates three key points. First, the decentralisation reform offers the requisite institutional backdrop for officials to articulate Imihigo as a cultural innovation for local governance and regime legitimacy. The state’s reasonable support for Imihigo incentivises local service delivery, although this is used by the regime to control the local arena. Consequentially, Rwandans’ interest in Imihigo frames a forum for official criticism. Our study shows a paradoxical use of cultural and modern norms for contemporary governance through a strong state committed to producing results.

A Philosophical Analysis of the Legitimacy of Political Power in Tanzania from a Lockean Perspective

This article conducts a philosophical analysis of the legitimacy of political power in Tanzania using John Locke’s political theory as a framework. It evolved from researcher’s observation and empirical studies that concerned political legitimacy in Tanzania. The lack of philosophical approach opened away for philosophical investigations and the necessity of involving philosophical views like that of the John Locke, in addressing of the shaking political legitimacy in Tanzania. The factors such as; allegations of corruption, restricted freedom of expression and limited access to justice, stimulated the author into philosophical inquiring, in accordance to John Locke’s political philosophy on the theory of legitimacy of political power. The Article examines how Locke’s principles of consent, protection of individual rights, and limited government apply within Tanzania’s socio-political context. The study highlights significant challenges to political legitimacy, including allegations of electoral manipulation, constraints on political freedoms, and governance issues such as corruption and lack of transparency. Recommendations are proposed to enhance democratic governance and accountability in Tanzania, emphasizing the critical need to strengthen electoral integrity, protect fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and assembly, and bolster institutional frameworks for transparency and judicial independence. By applying Locke’s principles, this analysis aims to contribute insights into the dynamics of political authority in Tanzania and suggest pathways for fostering a more inclusive, accountable, and legitimate governance framework aligned with the aspirations of its citizens.

Born Out of Crisis, Revels in Turmoil: Iran’s Islamic Republic at Home and Abroad

ABSTRACT Iran’s Islamic Republic regime is adept at functioning amidst turmoil. In Triumph and Despair, Mehran Kamrava shows how structural bifurcation, parallel institutions, and fluid political factions are enduring sources of tension within an already hybrid political system. Far from being a handicap, the regime uses internal friction to deflect blame from its shortcomings and to sow confusion among opponents. Nor does it recoil from domestic turmoil, with crisis management increasingly a strategy of choice to compensate for its diminishing legitimacy and failures in governance. Abroad, too, the Islamic Republic seems to revel in geopolitical upheaval in pursuit of overturning the Middle Eastern security architecture. Relying on non-state affiliates as deterrents and power multipliers, it is opportunistic in ensnaring adversaries in proxy conflicts, or exploiting their entanglements, while minimizing the risk of direct confrontation with itself. In Reading Revolutionary Iran, Ze’ev Maghen explains the strategic culture behind the regime’s ambitions.

The Dark Side of Legalism: Abuse of the Law and Democratic Erosion in Argentina, Ecuador, and Venezuela

Why do some elected leaders use legalistic strategies to undermine democracy from within? And under what conditions do they succeed in the use of these strategies? In this article, we argue that the abuse of law is at the center of the toolkit of emerging autocrats. Executives use an ample menu of legal tools and mechanisms (laws, constitutional amendments, executive decrees, administrative resolutions, and regulations by federal agencies) to gradually dismantle each of the components of liberal democracy. We show how the co-optation of the judiciary by the executive helps create an appearance of institutional normalcy that enhances regime legitimacy. In an era of democratic backsliding, executives capture or coerce judiciaries to neutralize opposition threats, carry out their policy agenda, secure and distribute benefits among allies, and dismantle various components that make up liberal democracies. To understand how executives have different levels of success in using multiple legal tools and mechanisms to undermine democracy, we compare three Latin American countries with disparate regime trajectories: Argentina, Ecuador, and Venezuela. Our paper situates judicial actors at the center of the legal toolkit of emerging autocrats by studying how (and in what ways) courts become illiberal tools for legal reform and implementation to dismantle liberal democracy gradually. We show how, in these cases, “legal narratives” are used to legitimize the slow undermining of democratic rule.

Appraising the Influence of Teacher Legitimate Authority on Teacher Role Performance: Evidence from Machakos County, Kenya

Teacher authority is an integral component of the learning process as it assists in upholding peaceful and orderly classrooms, facilitating the fulfilment of the teacher’s roles. Previously, conventional legitimate authority, which involved consistent application of classroom rules regulations, and values, was the norm. However, with a paradigm shift in culture, an emphasis on critical thinking, and creative problem-solving, and the pervasive influence of technology in teaching, studies have shown that a form of teacher authority that promotes absolute obedience, like legitimate authority, is no longer considered suitable or beneficial. This article aimed to determine the degree to which teachers employed legitimate authority and its impact on their role performance within classrooms in Machakos County. A descriptive survey research design was utilized for this study. The target population comprised 369 principals, 4,365 teachers, and 63,973 Form Two and Form Three students in 369 public secondary schools within the County. A sample population of 619 respondents was selected using a combination of systematic, stratified, and simple random, and proportional sampling techniques. Data was collected from the principals using an interview guide, while questionnaires were used to gather data from students and teachers. Analysis of the data from the questionnaires for students and teachers showed that they strongly agreed that teachers applied legitimate authority. Inferential statistics also showed that legitimate authority had a significant influence on the teachers’ role performance. Hence, the conclusion that use of legitimate authority practices enhanced the teachers’ role performance. Similar views were held by principals that the use of legitimate authority by teachers increased their role performance. The research concluded that while teachers predominantly employed legitimate authority practices, their effectiveness in roles required referent authority practices appeared to improve, indicating an inconsistency. The study recommends that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and Boards of Management (BOM) should provide induction for teachers on legitimate authority practices that align with children's rights. Additionally, there is a need to enhance the training curriculum to equip teachers with practices and approaches that foster referent authority.

Party identification as a mediating variable in the perception of governmental legitimacy in Israel during the coronavirus epidemic

AbstractObjectiveThe policy implemented in Israel with the purpose of eradicating the COVID‐19 pandemic restricted Israeli citizens’ individual freedom. During this period, Israel was suffering from government instability that led to recurring election campaigns within a short period. In addition, the prime minister was under legal investigation for suspicions of government corruption. This study examines the legitimization of government by the Israeli public during the COVID‐19 pandemic.MethodsThe research findings are based on a representative attitude survey conducted by a survey company among Israeli citizens (men and women older than 18), including 604 respondents from the Jewish population and others and another 135 respondents from the Arab sector, that is, a total of 739 respondents, where the sampling error was 4.4 percent.ResultsThe findings indicate that right‐wing voters tended to support governmental legitimization at a higher rate compared to voters from opposing blocs. Correspondingly, they tended to oppose claims attacking governmental legitimization at a lower rate in comparison to coalition party voters.ConclusionThe conclusion indicates that the party identification of the respondents is a mediating variable in their perception of governmental legitimacy vis‐à‐vis each of the three variables examined, thereby strengthening the perceptual screening.

Representation of Turkey in Yemeni Media: A Case Study of El-Mesira Channel and Aden Independent Channel

This study aims to examine the representation of Türkiye in news and news programs broadcast by private Yemeni television channels, focusing on discourse type, ideological frameworks employed in news coverage and the editorial policies followed by these channels. For this purpose, discourses from news and news programs published on the websites of El-Mesira, affiliated with Ansar Allah (Houthis) and Aden Independent Channel, aligned with the Southern Transitional Council, were analyzed using van Dijk’s Critical Discourse Analysis model for the period from July 1 to December 31, 2020. The analysis revealed that Aden Independent Channel concentrated on Turkish-Qatari relations accusing both countries of providing financial and military support to the legitimate government forces, which the channel deemed affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood (Al-Islah Party). The channel also asserted that the legitimate government was aligned with Türkiye and Iran, implementing Qatar’s agenda in Yemen. Simultaneously, the channel considered the forces of the Southern Transitional Council as the sole faction fighting against the legitimate government forces and Ansar Allah (Houthis), who aimed to thwart the council’s project of establishing an independent state in southern Yemen. On the other hand, El-Mesira reacted negatively to the presence of Turkish armed forces in Syria. Regarding the Yemeni crisis, the channel viewed Türkiye positively, particularly in light of Türkiye’s criticism of the negative role played by the United Arab Emirates in Yemen, which resulted in the deaths of thousands and the spread of famine among millions of Yemenis.

Policing the police: Why it is so hard to reform police departments in the United States?

Why has it been so difficult to reform U.S. policing? We provide a theoretical argument that understanding of the entrenched militarisation and accountability problems of U.S. police departments would benefit from using theory in comparative research on civil–military relations. American police forces undermine local democracy by encroaching upon the decision-making powers of city officials in ways that resemble militaries in fragile democracies. Applying historical and contemporary evidence and existing scholarly research on policing, we explain police militarisation was initiated by civilian leaders of city governments to garner governmental legitimacy, and by-proxy police support, in racialised contexts. Trading off city governments’ institutional strength in order to maintain legitimacy produced opportunities for police insubordination or subversion of city government oversight of police activity. Consequently, cities with low public legitimacy and/or weak municipal institutions, faced with high demands by militarised police departments, may be more likely to experience police subversion of democratic accountability over police activity.

Bernard Williams’ legitimate authority between universalism and relativism

ABSTRACT This paper is divided into two main parts. In the first half, I identify a tension within Bernard Williams’ political realist conception of political legitimacy. On the one hand, he was committed to a peculiar universalist criterion of political legitimacy – what is politically unacceptable is summed up in the old Catholic saying quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus creditum est. On the other, he supported the idea that what counts as political legitimacy depends on what we, in the here and now, deem to be politically legitimate – thus suggesting some kind of relativist criterion for political legitimacy. In order to eliminate this tension, I propose a two-step reconstruction of Williams’ works on political philosophy. The second half of the article assesses three criticisms to Willliams’ conception of political legitimacy levied by contemporary political realists. I use my two-step reconstruction of Williams to reject two of these three objections. In addressing the third, I sketch a reading of Williams’ notion of political legitimacy in the context of his ethical project as a whole and, in so doing, overcome the difficulty.

A fair share of sustainability benefits for consumers: the Horizontal Guidelines in the silent spring

ABSTRACT The revised Horizontal Guidelines provide a new framework to assess sustainability agreements. This article explores two pivotal aspects in the Horizontal Guidelines: individual non-use value benefits and collective benefits. By portraying sustainability as an economic rather than a moral benefit, the analysis delves into the foundations and methodologies used in these benefits and their fit into the existing caselaw, exposing shortfalls and controversies in their application. Building on this discussion, the article further explores the legitimacy of competition authorities to exercise distributional functions and decide on consumer preferences. The article overcomes the notion of sustainability as a non-economic goal in competition law, reveals key challenges in the future application of the Guidelines and aligns the economic discussion with the legal reality.

The Dynamics of Electoral Manipulation and Institutional Trust in Democracies: Election Timing, Blatant Fraud, and the Legitimacy of Governance.

This paper explores the dynamic relationship between electoral manipulation and popular trust in political institutions. Governments often manipulate election results by resorting to electoral fraud. They also tilt the electoral field by opportunistically deciding when to hold elections, in other words, election timing maneuvering. How do these two different types of electoral manipulation affect citizens' trust in the government, legislature, and election management bodies (EMBs)? We suggest that although the short-term effects of election timing manipulation are unclear due to its ambiguous nature as an electioneering strategy, substantial electoral margins created by timing maneuvering facilitate smooth decision-making, leading to boosting trust in the government and legislature over the long run. In contrast, as electoral fraud is an unambiguous form of manipulation, it may undermine trust in the government and parliament, although such effects may not last. By combining an original dataset of election timing with existing survey data comprising 335,000 citizens from fifty-eight democratic countries, we find evidence in support of our theoretical expectations.

Tax evasion attitude and taxpayers’ perception of government legitimacy: evidence from Southern Ethiopia

Tax evasion attitude and taxpayers’ perception of government legitimacy: evidence from Southern Ethiopia

Problems and Prospects of Developing Covenantal Pluralism in Zambia, a “Christian Nation”

This paper explores the possibility of covenantal pluralism in Zambia: Is it possible to develop a new approach for living together in a country with both religious and ethnic differences? Theoretically, it seems likely that Zambian citizens would likely benefit from expanding covenantal pluralism. However, while the paper discovers empirical evidence of popular support for key conditions and propositions of covenantal pluralism, progress seems slow. The paper uncovers little evidence that Zambia’s government diligently pursues covenantal pluralism, arguably because it might undermine a key source of governmental legitimacy—Zambia as a “Christian nation.”

New development: Rethinking public sector accounting systems by rediscovering their relational nature

IMPACT Accounting systems have been traditionally seen as technical calculative practices to quantify public sector activities, used by governments for (internal) decision-making purposes and to be externally accountable. This article suggests taking a different perspective by considering the relational nature of accounting systems, with the idea that a more interactive approach between citizens and governments can enhance both decision-making and accountability. By relying on a more dialogic approach, policy-makers and public managers at all levels of government can encourage citizens to participate in public service performance measurement, so that citizens can comment on what counts, how to measure it, and how to account for it. Doing this will reinvigorate government legitimacy, increase mutual trust between citizens and the public sector, and pursue public values that citizens actually want.

Global governance and the promissory visions of education: challenges and agendas

ABSTRACT This article – and the special issue it introduces – contributes to the expanding scholarly literature on the global governance of education, with a particular focus on its future-oriented and ‘promissory’ dimension. Inspired by Beckert’s (2020) concept of ‘promissory’ legitimacy, a key contribution of this special issue is to critically analyse past and contemporary promissory narratives of the major international organisations and other global actors concerning the future of education. We focus on three overarching themes that emerge from the contributions to this special issue: Problems of legitimacy in the global governance of education; a shift towards multistakeholderism, which we explore through the lens of ‘the neuro-affective turn’; the use of crisis narratives as an instrument of global governance, and geopolitical shifts and the decline of the liberal world order.

Some Cases of Official Corruption in the Yuan dynasty Based on Chinese Sources

During the reign of the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) in China, corruption played a significant role and had a serious impact on the stability of government and social life of the conquered. Corruption was widespread at all levels of administration, including among senior officials, high-ranking officials, and local authorities. This included both Mongol rulers and representatives of the semu, who were the core elements of the officialdom. Corruption exacerbated poverty among ordinary people, as funds allocated for public needs were often redirected to benefit corrupt officials, eroding public trust in the government and the legitimacy of authority. Such a phenomenon heightened anti-government sentiment and served as the main catalyst for social unrest and uprisings. Moreover, corruption resulted in the appointment and promotion of officials not based on their qualifications but rather on personal connections and bribes. This diminished the efficiency of governance, as it did not always ensure that the most qualified individuals occupied key positions. This article offers insight into the phenomenon of corruption during the Yuan dynasty. The author explores the unprecedented level of corruption among officials and its impact on the living conditions of ordinary people in China. The article delves into a considerable number of instances of high-ranking officials’ malpractice taken from primary materials, providing a detailed analysis. This approach allows readers to gain an understanding of the social situation during Mongol rule in China and the role that corruption played in the overthrow of the Yuan dynasty. Social crisis was mostly caused by the employment of dishonest officials and the absence of the representative of the Chinese literati at the officialdom. It is worth mentioning that Kublai Khan (r. 1260–1294) managed to unite the vast expanses of China due to the assistance of Confucian scholars who served him as valuable allies in propagating Chinese values, traditions, as well vital elements of the civil administration.