Student number: 239056642
Political Legitimacy, Authoritarianism, and Climate Change
Introduction
Mittiga is questioning the legitimacy of authoritarian power in terms of political theory. He believes
that legitimacy in terms of a government’s capacity to maintain security and safety aspects is left
unnoticed. Moreover, in taking action on climate change immediately, Mittiga mentioned it might be
beneficial to have a government that is not limited by political processes or the constitution. Hence,
the writer seems eager to discuss how the way governments react to climate change affects how
normative evaluations of their political legitimacy are made.
Summary
In this paper, Mittiga points out two levels of political legitimacy; the FL (Foundational Legitimacy)
and the CL (Contingent Legitimacy). To support his arguments, Mittiga develops his theory by
referencing Thomas Hobbes views. In terms of the relationship between these two, the paper claims
the satisfaction of security needs will have a greater (or even exclusive) impact on political legitimacy
than the fulfilment of CL factors.
Mittiga also summarises three potential contingent legitimacy factors that influence normative
assessment of legitimacy. These factors include the stewardship standard, which holds that a
government must represent and attend to the interest of future generations and the natural environment
to be considered legitimate. The writer develops this first factor from some other writers; Eckersley
(2004), González-Ricoy and Gosseries (2016), Holden (2002), and Caney (2016). The epistocracy
standard which suggests that governments must base their actions on the best available evidence in
critical policy domains to maintain legitimacy. The sustainability standard emphasises that
governments acting to preserve and protect the natural environment are more legitimate than those
that do not.
The paper argues that these new standards of legitimacy are already changing public perceptions and
may replace or add to the current liberal-democratic standards as the climate problem gets worse. It
appears that attempts for civil disobedience often ask for greater stewardship, consideration of expert
advice, and the implementation of sustainability policies. Then, Mittiga concludes that political
legitimacy operates on two levels: the fundamental requirement for governments to ensure safety and
security, and the need for governments to exercise power in broadly acceptable ways. In crisis
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Student number: 239056642
moments, liberal-democratic factors in power may make it hard for a government to keep things safe
and stable, requiring the use of emergency power, which could be authoritarian.
Overall, Mittiga expresses that responding to climate change may require authoritarian approaches
due to the urgency and severity of the crisis. It means that if following democratic processes and
protecting individual rights makes it harder to solve the climate problem, then a more authoritarian
approach may be needed for political legitimacy. However, the paper stresses how important it is to
stop or quickly lessen security threats to avoid legitimising long-term authoritarian power. Mittiga
concludes that urgent and immediate action is needed to stop the terrible effects of climate change, but
governments should try to stay within the bounds of liberal democratic factors as much as possible.
The author agrees that these complicated new trends in public morals and political legitimacy need
more study.
Literature Review
The way the author is trying to convey authoritarian approaches might be needed to handle the climate
crisis is exceptional. In this paper, Mittiga declares there are two distinct tiers of operation for political
legitimacy and says gaining political legitimacy may require a more authoritarian approach. The
author suggests considering authoritarian climate governance. While it is impossible to fully answer
this question, some options that can still be explored are explained coherently along with evidence.
A belief Mittiga brings up is that it may be necessary to use a more authoritarian approach in order to
achieve political legitimacy. This statement of Mittiga is relevant to Barry and Smith (2008) prior
study about green politics. This paper examines the emergence of sustainability as a crucial factor for
political legitimacy. They also argued if a political body wants to be regarded as legitimate, they
should fit themself applicable to the 21st century political landscape1. In that case, they mentioned
sustainability.
Although there was a significant declaration happening back in 2019, Mittiga says governments that
don't do enough to deal with climate change are not legitimate. For instance, one of the Climate
Change Act stated by CIEEM in 2019 made a statement about the actions they are committed to take
in response to the climate crisis2. Yet again, that assertion was merely presented within the context of
a written document. Another example that reflects Mittiga’s opinion is the declaration made by the
Royal Greenwich. In their website, they stated “We know that we cannot become carbon neutral
unless we: reduce the number of journeys made by polluting motor vehicles, insulate our buildings
1
Barry, John, and Kimberly Smith. 2008. “Civic Republicanism and Green Politics.” In Building a Citizen
Society: The Emerging Politics of Republican Democracy, eds. Stuart White and Daniel Leighton, 123–45.
London: Lawrence and Wishart.
2
Climate Emergency & Biodiversity Crisis: Declaration and Call to Action. (2019, September). CIEEM.
Retrieved November 15, 2023, from
https://cieem.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Climate-Emergency-and-Biodiversity-Crisis-Declaration-1.pdf
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Student number: 239056642
and move away from gas boilers, enable people to walk, cycle and use public transport wherever
possible, only use renewable electricity, and use fewer disposable items and recycle everything we
can”3. This statement might raise questions like, how are they supposed to realise those statements?
Will there be regulations that are really implemented in the near future?
As debatable as it is, one of the Climate Crisis Act fellow, the chamber of the UK, posted an article
that said “As a Council, we’re already building thousands of net zero and low carbon homes, creating
better routes for walking and cycling, and implementing controlled parking zones to discourage car
use”4, posted on their website in August 2023. This showed that government authoritarianism can still
be regarded as legitimate, but the process requires a certain amount of time. Hence, a more
authoritarian governance style with less political processes may be required.
Looking back to some analysis of prior research, Mittiga also conceived an idea of effective climate
action from Oreskes and Conway’s book which discussed how over four decades, a loose network of
high-level academics and scientific advisers with extensive political and business links misled the
public and denied well-established scientific information. It shows that, sometimes, institutions even
in political ones, still have some flaws in carrying out their role5.
Word Count: 985
Bibliography
Barry, John, and Kimberly Smith. 2008. “Civic Republicanism and Green Politics.” In Building a
Citizen Society: The Emerging Politics of Republican Democracy, eds. Stuart White and
Daniel Leighton, 123–45. London: Lawrence and Wishart
Climate Emergency & Biodiversity Crisis: Declaration and Call to Action. (2019, September).
CIEEM. Retrieved November 15, 2023, from
https://cieem.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Climate-Emergency-and-Biodiversity-Crisis-D
eclaration-1.pdf
3
Our declaration | What is the climate emergency? (2019). Royal Borough of Greenwich. Retrieved November
15, 2023, from
https://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/info/200327/climate_emergency/2166/what_is_the_climate_emergency
4
Greenwich Council: We're Committed to Being Carbon Neutral By 2030 - ChamberUK. (2023, August 15).
Chamber UK. Retrieved November 15, 2023, from
https://chamberuk.com/greenwich-council-were-committed-to-being-carbon-neutral-by-2030/
5
Oreskes, Naomi, and Erik M. Conway. 2011. Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the
Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
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Student number: 239056642
Greenwich Council: We're Committed to Being Carbon Neutral By 2030 - ChamberUK. (2023,
August 15). Chamber UK. Retrieved November 15, 2023, from
https://chamberuk.com/greenwich-council-were-committed-to-being-carbon-neutral-by-2030/
Our declaration | What is the climate emergency? (2019). Royal Borough of Greenwich. Retrieved
November 15, 2023, from
https://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/info/200327/climate_emergency/2166/what_is_the_clima
te_emergency
4