DEFINITION OF LEGITIMACY: THE RIGHT TO GOVERN

The problem of legitimacy, which is central in politics, is not the exclusive property of any one discipline. Philosophy and political science, law, sociology, and political anthropology have all made of it a privileged object of research. The breadth of the literature on this theme suffices to prove the point. With each discipline representing a specific way of understanding reality, it is not surprising that the various points of view being advanced offer marked differences. And if one compares the works of various authors or schools of thought, one finds, even within a given discipline, some major divergencies. Despite these, there exists a common ground for understanding: the idea of legitimacy concerns first and foremost the right to govern. Legitimacy is the recognition of the right to govern. In this regard, it tries to offer a solution to a fundamental political problem, which consists in justifying simultaneously political power and obedience.

To justify power and obedience simultaneously is the first issue involved in the question of legitimacy. Upon this twofold demonstration depend both the right to govern and what results therefrom, political obligation. But in order for this operation to be successful, it has to fulfil at least three complementary conditions that have to do with the domains of consent, law, and norms, these being in reality indissociable. An examination of these three notions will allow one to see in what way they are constitutive of legitimacy.