Evaluate the factors which can cause a state's legitimacy to break down. - page 1
Keywords: legitimacy stability political factors
By exploiit on 19/06/2010
Level: A Level (Year 13)
Page Number: 1 of 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5Political legitimacy refers to the ‘rightfulness’ of a state’s administration to govern its people and this is often connected to authority. For legitimacy to take affect, a government’s authority must be confirmed and accepted by the public, and there are a number of factors which must be balanced by an administration to ensure they remain legitimate in the eyes of their people. These include political and economic stability, an absence of coercion and dictatorship, and the freedom of press. Religious and racial conflict, domestic disputes over territory and international standing may also factor significantly.
Political stability is crucial to the maintenance of state legitimacy; any government must be active in their responsibilities to the public. Delivering in areas such as welfare, healthcare and education are important and, if there is failure to do so, legitimacy is often called into question. In order to safeguard political stability, a number of measures can be utilised. The use of a constitution in countries, for example, allows for an established set of rules and regulations, to which a government must be held accountable, and also provide the public with a collection of defined rights. In the Republic of Ireland, Bunreacht na hÉireann (the Constitution of Ireland) of 1937 has strengthened the state’s legitimacy through outlining the rule of law, tenure of office and powers for a government and its officials, and also by providing mechanisms through which the public can participate themselves in affecting decisions (for example, through judicial review cases and referenda), leading to greater legitimacy. Without clear definitions and established laws a government can be left unaccountable to its people and in such cases, a break down in legitimacy is inevitable. Civil participation is rare as the public are politically unaware and ignorant of their own rights (if these even exist). Until 2005, a constitution was absent in Iraq and, prior to the current document’s introduction, freedom of press, freedom of religion, universal healthcare and a President’s political tenure (amongst many other things) were left undefined, raising many questions about the state’s legitimacy.
The way in which an administration actually comes to power can also affect a state’s legitimacy. In some countries, leadership is legitimately granted on traditional, hereditary or spiritual grounds. The Dalai Lama in Tibet for example, is accepted as legitimate by the monk population because of their spiritual convictions, despite the fact that this leadership is not tested by means of
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