State Legitimacy Research Articles

On state securitization, artificial NGOs, and environmental journalism: An interview with Peter Schwartzstein, environmental security journalist, author, and researcher

This is an interview with environmental journalist Peter Schwartzstein. In the interview, Schwartzstein discusses how states are increasingly securitizing and weaponizing climate change and the environment. This can happen directly, for instance when militaries prepare for climate change or when governments use the environment in strategic ways to cover up their actions. But there are also indirect ways, such as artificial NGOs that serve governmental interests. Schwartzstein further discusses opportunities and challenges for environmental security journalists, including the need to work on the ground and the often-complex intersections between climate and conflict. He identifies declining state legitimacy as the most concerning development in the environmental security field in the coming years.

Anti-fracking protests and compliance with police: An examination of public opinion in the Anthropocene

Few studies that investigate public views about compliance with police consider the environmental movement. The present study helps fill this gap in the literature by investigating attitudes about protester compliance with police at anti-fracking protests. Study data come from a representative sample of adults living in the United Kingdom ( n = 1051). Multivariate findings generated by ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and structural equation modelling show that the public is less likely to agree that anti-fracking protesters should obey police commands when they perceive that hydraulic fracturing is a risk. Moreover, views about hydraulic fracturing, the environment, protest and protesters all appear to influence perceptions that anti-fracking protest police act in ways that are procedurally (un)just. Procedural justice, in turn, is positively correlated with people’s attitudes that anti-fracking protesters should comply with police. These findings have important implications for future UK energy policy and state legitimacy.

Perfecting justice and legitimacy?

ABSTRACT This paper examines two aspects of the views developed in Tahzib’s excellent book A Perfectionist Theory of Justice. First, I consider the implications of including the principle of perfection within the theory of justice, and in particular what this means for the legitimacy of non-perfectionist states. Second, I argue that spiritual excellence has a plausible claim to be included in Tahzib’s conception of flourishing, and identify some problems this raises for his account.

Securing commitment and control for the supply of plasma derivatives for public health systems. I: A short review of the global landscape.

The social market economies of the Western world considered the provision of plasma derivatives produced from publicly owned blood services as a legitimate state commitment and, until the last decades of the 20th century, many of the relevant jurisdictions maintained state-supported fractionation plants to convert publicly collected plasma into products for the public health system. This situation started to change in the 1990s, because of several converging factors, and currently, publicly owned/subsidized, not-for-profit fractionation activity has shrunk to a handful of players. However, the collection of plasma from publicly owned blood services has continued and recent developments have increased the interest of state authorities globally to increase the volume of plasma collected to increase the level of strategic independence in the supply of crucial plasma-derived medicines from commercial market pressures, particularly the global for-profit fractionation sector with its dominance of source plasma from paid donors in the United States. This paper reviews the development of the plasma industry and the evolution of the pressures on the supply of plasma, which has led to a situation of scarcity of key plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMPs).

Indigenous Diffuse Support and Descriptive Representation in the Canadian House of Commons

Abstract Do Indigenous peoples in present-day Canada display lower levels of diffuse support than non-Indigenous settlers? Given settler colonial relations (both historic and contemporary) and Indigenous peoples’ own political thought, we can expect that Indigenous peoples would have even lower perceptions of state legitimacy than non-Indigenous peoples. However, there are conflicting expectations regarding whether the descriptive representation of Indigenous peoples in settler institutions is likely to make a difference: on one hand, Indigenous people may see themselves reflected in these institutions and consequently feel better represented; on the other hand, these forms of representation do not challenge the underlying colonial nature of these institutions. Using data from the 2019 and 2021 Canadian Election Studies, our statistical analysis demonstrates that: (1) diffuse support is significantly lower among Indigenous peoples than non-Indigenous peoples, including people of color; (2) Indigenous respondents across multiple peoples have similarly low levels of diffuse support, and (3) being represented by an Indigenous Member of Parliament does not change the levels of diffuse support among Indigenous peoples. Overall, our research highlights the outstanding challenges to achieving reconciliation through the Canadian state and points to ways large-N analyses may be made more robust.

Оподаткування і фіскальна соціологія: фінансова думка Заходу та уроки для України

Introduction. In the process of fair interaction between authorities and taxpayers, a relationship of trust is created. This trust ensures support for government fiscal initiatives from the business sector. Conversely, if the relationship is not transparent and equitable, it can lead to a passive or even negative attitude towards taxes, thereby reducing the efficiency of the tax system. Problem Statement. There is a gap in Ukrainian fiscal theory, which is still underdeveloped in terms of fiscal sociology. Compared to Western countries, where fiscal sociology has already become an integral part of economic analysis, in Ukraine this issue has been studied only by a narrow circle of scholars. This limitation necessitates a deeper study and integration of sociological approaches into financial science, because without it, Ukrainian researchers and policy makers lose the opportunity to gain a more complete understanding of the interaction between economic and social processes. The purpose is to substantiate the directions of integration of fiscal sociology into Ukrainian financial theory and to develop recommendations for its inclusion into Ukrainian financial practice. Methods. The methods used are systematic, structural-functional, comparative analysis, analogy, grouping, description, comparison and generalization. Results. It is proved that by integrating fiscal sociology, Ukrainian fiscal theory can benefit from a more nuanced understanding of the socio-economic factors influencing fiscal policy. Such integration could lead to more effective policy making and a deeper understanding of the economic challenges facing Ukraine. Conclusions. Ukrainian academics and policymakers should prioritize the interdisciplinary study of fiscal policy, taking into consideration the rich tradition of fiscal sociology in the West. Joint efforts should be made to develop tax policies that strengthen state legitimacy by addressing issues of fairness, transparency, and trust. Strategies for managing public debt and improving tax morale should be a central element of fiscal policy to ensure that Ukraine's financial system can withstand socioeconomic pressures and contribute to long-term stability and development.

Легитимность насилия в техногенном обществе

The author examines the transformation of violence as a way of survival into “violence of power”, characteristic of modern civilization, the legitimacy of its legitimization, the use of resources of the information network society, technogenic civilization to regulate internal and external state relations, and new management perspectives. The legitimacy of the activities of states that claim the right to identify weak, dying or failed states as the source of modern political violence, instability and threats, and to carry out "humanitarian missions" against them, is called into question. The types of violence that are logically built into the development system of modern technogenic society, such as economic, institutional, and informational, are considered. Attention is drawn to the effectiveness of new technologies for the introduction of military innovations and the development of military potential in support of external legitimate state violence. The inability of modern society to control and regulate increasingly complex information systems and the tendency of the authorities to proactively assess negative consequences and prevent the possibility of their occurrence are emphasized. The mechanisms of a technogenic society contribute both to the control of the legitimacy of power and provide the power with the opportunity to control society. Therefore, a culture of peace can serve as a new trend in the development of humanity.

Historical Legitimacy and Climate Change Policies: International Evidence

National climate change policies vary considerably from one country to another. This study examines the extent to which a country’s climate change policy is influenced by the degree of continuity between its pre- and post-colonial institutions. To do this, the study employs ordinary and two-stage least squares estimation techniques with data from 63 countries. The results show that states with greater historical legitimacy (more continuity between pre- and post-colonial institutions) implement more stringent climate change policies. In addition, the results also highlight that historically legitimate states implement more rigorous climate change policies because of their low and high level of fragility and human development, respectively. Based on these findings, our study proposes that historically illegitimate states implement human development and fragility reduction strategies to mitigate the negative effects of the lack of continuity between pre- and post-colonial institutions.

The Automated Administrative State: A Crisis of Legitimacy

The legitimacy of the administrative state is premised on our faith in agency expertise. Despite their extra-constitutional structure, administrative agencies have been on firm footing for a long time in reverence to their critical role in governing a complex, evolving society. They are delegated enormous power because they respond expertly and nimbly to evolving conditions. In recent decades, state and federal agencies have embraced a novel mode of operation: automation. Agencies rely more and more on software and algorithms in carrying out their delegated responsibilities. The automated administrative state, however, is demonstrably riddled with concerns. Legal challenges regarding the denial of benefits and rights—from travel to disability—have revealed a pernicious pattern of bizarre and unintelligible outcomes. Scholarship to date has explored the pitfalls of automation with a particular frame, asking how we might ensure that automation honors existing legal commitments such as due process. Missing from the conversation are broader, structural critiques of the legitimacy of agencies that automate. Automation abdicates the expertise and nimbleness that justify the administrative state, undermining the very case for the existence and authority of agencies. Yet the answer is not to deny agencies access to technology that other twenty-first century institutions rely upon. This Article points toward a positive vision of the administrative state that adopts tools only when they enhance, rather than undermine, the underpinnings of agency legitimacy.

Commissions of inquiry and transitional justice in India: accountability, acknowledgment, and truth in the aftermath of communal violence

ABSTRACT This article examines the contributions made by commissions of inquiry to transitional justice in the aftermath of violent conflict. Drawing on data from India, where commissions of inquiry are routinely instituted in response to episodes of communal violence, it assesses the contributions made by 26 commissions established between 1980 and the present to addressing human rights abuses. The article demonstrates that although some of India’s commissions of inquiry have made concrete contributions to uncovering the truth about human rights violations, acknowledging the rights of victims, and holding perpetrators to account, they have more often served to obscure the truth and avoid accountability for human rights violations. It argues that hey do this both to uphold the legitimacy of the democratic state and to protect powerful actors implicated in perpetrating, inciting, or failing to prevent human rights violations, using strategies of denial, blame shifting, and inaction.

Legal experts colluding with the political and economic elites in justifying corruption: the case of Malaysia’s Madani goverment

This paper examines the increasing centralization of power by the current ‘reformist’ Malaysian government through the co-optation of civil society organizations (CSOs) to bolster the moral legitimacy of the integral state. We argue that Anwar Ibrahim’s transition from a unifying figure in oppositional politics to his current role has inadvertently led to the muting of civil society actors (CSAs) and CSOs. This co-optation has significantly diminished the autonomy and influence of civil society in Malaysia’s political landscape. A comparative analysis of the socio-economic strategies employed by Anwar and his predecessor, Najib Razak, reveals that Anwar’s efforts towards wealth redistribution and empowerment of marginalized communities have been limited. This policy approach has disproportionately affected rural constituencies, potentially altering the dynamics of political support. Furthermore, the current administration under Anwar faces criticism for failing to fulfill its campaign promise of holding corrupt politicians accountable. This situation is exacerbated by the involvement of two prominent lawyers representing politicians across party lines, raising questions about conflicts of interest and the integrity of the judicial process. Drawing on Gramscian theory, this paper posits that legal professionals should be incorporated into the concept of the ‘integral state’ due to their capacity to interpret, manipulate, and shape laws in ways that often benefit the ruling elite. This theoretical expansion provides a more comprehensive framework for understanding the mechanisms of power consolidation in contemporary Malaysian politics.

Statistical Imaginaries, State Legitimacy: Grappling With the Arrangements Underpinning Quantification in the U.S. Census

Over the last century, the adoption of novel scientific methods for conducting the U.S. census has been met with wide-ranging receptions. Some were quietly embraced, while others sparked decades-long controversies. What accounts for these differences? We argue that controversies emerge from and reconfigure arrangements of statistical imaginaries, putting into tension divergent visions of the census. To analyze these dynamics, we compare reactions to two methods designed to improve data accuracy – imputation and adjustment – and two methods designed to protect confidentiality – swapping and differential privacy, offering insight into how each method reconfigures stakeholder orientations and rhetorical claims. These cases allow us to reflect on how technocratic efforts to improve accuracy and confidentiality can strengthen – or erode – trust in data. Our analysis shows how the credibility of the Census Bureau and its data stem not just from empirical evaluations of quantification but also from how statistical imaginaries are contested and stabilized.

A New Twist to an Age-Long Friendship: The Role of Local Defence Groups in the Conflict Between Farmers and Herders

The relationship between farmers and herders, once characterised by symbiosis and mutual dependence, has undergone a profound transformation in many regions worldwide, marked by escalating tensions and violent conflicts over resources. This paper examines a new twist to the long-standing relationship, focusing on the emerging phenomenon of local defence groups and their impact on the dynamics of conflict between farmers and herders. Drawing on a multidisciplinary approach, this study explores the origins, motivations, organisational structures, and strategies of local defence groups operating within the context of farmer-herder conflicts using a qualitative approach that relies on secondary data from scholarly journals and newspaper editorials. The data was analysed using thematic analysis. The study established that historical grievances, socioeconomic factors, and environmental pressures fuel the emergence of these groups, often as a response to perceived failures of formal security mechanisms. This research assesses the implications of local defence groups for conflict escalation, peacebuilding efforts, and governance dynamics. While these groups may offer immediate security to communities vulnerable to violence and theft, their actions can exacerbate tensions, perpetuate cycles of revenge, and undermine prospects for long-term peace and stability. Additionally, their interactions with formal authorities, including the police and military, raise questions about state legitimacy, rule of law, and human rights protections. Through a nuanced analysis of case studies from diverse regions affected by farmer-herder conflicts, this study sheds light on the complexities of local defence dynamics. It offers insights for policymakers, practitioners, and scholars alike. It underscores the importance of holistic approaches that address underlying drivers of conflict, promote dialogue and reconciliation, and strengthen governance structures to foster sustainable peace and coexistence between farmers and herders in the face of evolving challenges.

Resilience and Domination: Resonances of Racial Slavery in Refugee Exclusion

Abstract We are encouraged to think of refugees as resilient people with agency and capacity for flourishing, rather than passive victims needing help. This framing purports to uphold and celebrate refugees’ humanity. But some scholars worry that it problematically serves to demand resilience from refugees, normalize their displacement, and legitimate state bordering practices. This article builds on this critique by examining how powerful actors have long attributed resilience to vulnerable others to legitimate domination and control. I focus on the deployment of resilience-talk by white enslavers and their supporters to justify Black enslavement in the American South. Their philosophical, climatological, and epidemiological arguments about the resilient Black slave were supplemented with a claim that Black people could not survive liberation in the American North. I probe the resonances of this resilience-talk with contemporary invocations of the resilience of refugees in the Global South, and their supposed non-resilience in the Global North.

Ակնարկ Այաթոլլահ Ռուհոլլահ Խոմեյնիի «Վելայաթ-ե ֆաղիհի» հայեցակարգի շուրջ / An overview of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's concept of ''Velāyat-e faqīh''

The concept of 'Velāyat-e faqīh' as a form of Shia Islamic rule became popular after the Islamic revolution in Iran and is the most important and dominant institution in the system of governance of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Islamic revolution was a radical and far-reaching change in Iranian society, aimed at overthrowing the Shah and establishing a new system of government based on both Sharia and civil law. The political, economic, and cultural future of the state was determined by Shia clergy after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini established a social society based on Islamic religious principles and developed a theory of state development. After the victory of the Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini put forward the theory of defending "Islamic power" as a religious priority, thereby strengthening the foundations of the religious state. The concept of 'velayat-e faqih' was an opportunity for a solution to the crisis of legitimate state authority in Shi'ism. It has enshrined in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran and is the basis of the state structure of the country and has the closest connection and similarity with the Imamate system.

SECURITY DIMENSION OF THE GLOBAL ISSUES

The article deals with current global issues of our time in their security dimension. An attempt has been made to outline the various directions of influence of global problems on the security architecture in today’s conditions. It was proposed to divide the global problems of our time into natural-ecological and socio-economic ones. At the same time, in our opinion, pandemics occupy an intermediate position between natural and anthropogenic problems. It has been argued that the modern economy is less vulnerable to natural disasters than it has been before, but natural disasters take more lives due to the high population density in the modern world. Human impact on the environment has been extremely destructive. Air pollution on a catastrophic scale is observed in large cities of the developing countries. Deforestation and desertification are making more and more areas uninhabitable. Global warming and climate change are seen not only in the rise in temperature, but also in the appearance of weather anomalies, the melting of glaciers, and the rise in the level of the World Ocean. The appearance of «climate migrants» has been explained to be one of the consequences of climate change. The combination of natural and social dimensions of global issues has been illustrated with the examples of conflicts over water. Socio-economic problems are mostly determined by the imperfection of society. This article has dealt with the demographic problem in different dimensions: in the Western countries there is a demographic crisis, and in the developing countries there is a demographic explosion, which has been shown using the example of Nigeria, Egypt, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, etc. Poverty in these countries has an important impact on economic security. A large number of people do not have the basic necessities for life (food, safe water and sanitation, shelter, healthcare, etc.) and live in conditions of absolute poverty. In some countries, the literacy rate is still quite low. The globalisation of criminal activity also a danger. Some countries, such as Haiti, can fall under the control of criminal groups. Terrorism is a type of crime that deserves to be investigated separately for many reasons. All the listed problems are extremely urgent in the conditions of inefficient political management. Solving issues related to security and overcoming the consequences of global issues is possible only in the presence of an effectively functioning public administration system. But creating a good governance system is a difficult task under conditions of dictatorship or the absence of legitimate state power. The issue of supporting international security in all spheres is a topical problem in international politics. It has been underlined that joint efforts can help to overcome of the explored issues.

Climate refugeehood: A counterargument

This paper argues against the idea of climate change refugeehood. Drawing on political realism, it reconstructs the idea and function of refugeehood in international politics. Refugees are not the agencyless victims merely in search of rescue by states of the Global North, as the idea of climate refugeehood as a form of humanitarian refugeehood would have it. Nor are they simply a function of reparative justice, or of defending international state legitimacy. To liberal democracies, refugees are those fleeing political oppression. They hold an important political function in inter-state relations in undermining rival political systems and strengthening liberal democratic regimes, both ideally and materially. The idea of climate refugeehood collides with the role refugeehood plays in international politics, the reasons for their admission, and the conceptualization of their plight and function. It ought, hence, to be rejected.

‘Freedom within the framework’? The everyday politics of religion, state repression and migration in Vietnam’s borderlands and beyond

ABSTRACT How do peripheral, ‘voiceless’ people engage with politics in authoritarian contexts where formal politics is not a viable option? This article demonstrates the value of applying an everyday politics perspective to grassroots religious activity and mobilities, by providing an in-depth case study of a recently Christianised ethnic minority group based in Vietnam’s politically sensitive borderlands. In the face of religious persecution and social conflict sponsored by an overbearing state, hundreds of thousands of ordinary ethnic Hmong Protestants subtly resist, evade and/or support religious policies through mundane, everyday behaviour which have unintended geopolitical consequences, collectively undermine state legitimacy and can be credited with substantial policy changes over time. Based on rich qualitative data, I argue that a careful investigation of everyday spaces as sites of political contestation not only highlights the agency of non-elite religious actors but can also reveal insights about the nature of the ‘top-down’ forces they engage with.

‘Blown from a gun’: situating the British practice of execution by cannon in the context of southern and western Asia

Abstract In parts of southern and western Asia, as elsewhere, the cannon once served as one of the most dramatic tools in the inventories of state executioners. The practice of ‘blowing from a gun’, by which the condemned was bound to the front of a cannon and quite literally blown to pieces, was most infamously employed in British India and the Princely States, and the vast majority of English-language scholarship focuses on these regions. However, blowing from guns was commonplace in several other contemporary states, and the British use of the practice has rarely been situated in this context. The tactic was considered especially useful in Persia and Afghanistan, where weak governance, rebellion, and rampant banditry all threatened the legitimacy of the nascent state in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This article presents a history of the practice of execution by cannon in southern and western Asia, positioning it within the existing literature on public executions in the context of military and civilian justice. In doing so, the article seeks to situate the British use of the tactic within a broader regional practice, arguing that, whilst the British—following the Mughal tradition—used execution by cannon primarily in maintaining military discipline, states such as Persia and Afghanistan instead employed the practice largely in the civilian context. This article also provides a brief technical review of the practice, drawing upon numerous primary sources to examine execution by cannon within the Mughal empire, British India, Persia, and Afghanistan.

Wartime service provision and post-conflict state legitimacy: Perception-based foundation of sustainable development in Northwestern Pakistan

Promoting a peaceful environment is integral for socioeconomic reconstruction in conflict-affected societies. However, the absence of violence does not immediately result in national endeavors for development because a post-conflict state often lacks a popular base of state legitimacy owing to the wartime fragmentation of socio-political groups. Implementing a questionnaire survey in northwestern tribal areas in Pakistan, specifically the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas, this study explores how and why state legitimacy rises and declines as a result of wartime interactions between political actors and civilians. Empirical analyses of novel survey data reveal that wartime service provision is associated with post-conflict sustainable development regarding the civilian perception of legitimacy of the state. State legitimacy is strongly perceived by civilians who have received public services from the state and weakly by those who have been exposed to rebel services. We further disaggregate wartime service provision to explore the influence of providers and variety/types of services. The results indicate that the provision of a wider variety of wartime services impresses upon civilians’ perceived legitimacy; furthermore, while the delivery of basic and extra services beyond justice and security is associated with state legitimacy, the impact is conditional on service providers. State legitimacy has an important role in political stability and national collectivity needed for post-conflict sustainable development. As wartime civil–military relations persistently influence civilians’ perception of political legitimacy, post-conflict reconstruction needs to take locals’ experiences into consideration so that the development initiatives can be legitimate and sustainable.