Democracy and Political
Legitimacy
Training Session 06.05.2015
But first... Political culture and
socialisation
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It’s about political behaviour, setting out the rules of what is/what is
not accepted in politics
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Ex-communist states
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Continuously changing, it is not something you are born with, but into
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Pre-requisite for democracy
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Is there such a thing as national political culture?
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This is why, even if you remove an undemocratic regime, it is hard to
institute democracy
Why do we like democracy?
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Formal political equality
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Self-ownership-it is the only form of political organisation that provides this
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Popular control
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Public Deliberation
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Separation of power in the state
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Rule of law
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Equality before the law
It provides us with:
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A means of selecting governments
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A decision-making mechanism(aggregate of preference)
Aggregate of preferences
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There are competing interests and needs in society.
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As long as a majority of people express their preference, then the action of the
government will mimic this. But do they?
1. Political parties often govern with an agenda
2. Interest groups(especially those with insider status)
3. Unseen lobbying power of companies
4. Disproportionate representation of those with more resources
5. Media manipulation (media usually has a political agenda and is backed by people with
money)
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But, givent that direct representation is
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1. Impractical(decisions would take ages)
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2. Inefficient(you elect representatives who are competent)
This is the best form of representation we have
Public Deliberation
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Policies to be discussed in the public eye
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This means that people have a fair input to highlight the strenghts and failings of a policy
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Removal of bad policy and implementation of policies that win the debate
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But...
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Policy often manifests ideological starting points
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Agreeing with a party on the opposite side of the ideological spectre might be seen as
‘giving in’
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This means that sometimes the ideological dispute comes before the actual pros/cons of
the measure
Formal political equality
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Who is the ‘we’ that government needs to represent
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Is it the nation/citizens?
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Is it all the people that are affected by a policy?
What is the best method for our wishes to be incorporated in the decision-making process
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Representative systems of elections tend to favourize the
What are the criteria on which we should let people participate in voting
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Ability(level of information and ability to understand it influence decision)
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Social inclusion(should we allow people in prisons to vote, residents)
Median-voter theorem problem
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Political parties ultimately want to be elected
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They will focus on attracting the median voter rather than minoritary interests
Just because ‘it’s democratic’ doesn’t
mean it’s good
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Often in debates people stop their analysis when they reach the level of ‘it’s
democratic’
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We take democracy generally as a good system of governing, since it’s a cumulus of
good values/principles
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You need to link the argument to the principle and show it’s important
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Also, sometimes the principles need auxiliary conditions in order to mean anything
(e.g. it doesn’t matter if all people can vote if there is heavy propaganda, threats and
only one candidate)
Legitimacy
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“LEGITIMACY INVOLVES THE
CAPACITY OF THE SYSTEM TO ENGENDER AND MAINTAIN THE BELIEF THAT THE
EXISTING POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS ARE THE MOST APPROPRIATE ONES FOR THE SOCIETY”- SEYMOUR
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It’s a lot about people’s beliefs
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If people consider something to be true, they will act as if it were true
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Legitimacy does not equal legality. An action can be legal, but not legitimate.
LIPSET
Why do we need legitimacy in society
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For ensuring compliance to the system
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You need some level of buy-in of the public to the policies/the way the system
operates
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You need this for example for the rule of law to operate
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So conferring legitimacy is an every-day process
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Loss of legitimacy is hard to measure, but it’s consequences are usually the loss of
power(see Arab spring)
Pursuit of individual interests in general
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Social cohesion, social trust
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Note: The more ‘democratic’ a policy seems to the people, the more buy-in you’re
likely to get as a policy-maker
Sources of legitimacy
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Traditional
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This links back to political culture
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You are born in a system of institutions and values that you tend, at least at first, to
regard as natural and take them for granted
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Are you then acually ‘conferring’ legitimacy to a regime, or you just think that is the
normal way things should be?
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Charismatic
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Rational
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Does it respect a certain system of rules/values? (note that this is influenced by the
traditional version)
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This is what we normally refer to when we talk about legitimacy in debates
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However, the above two are worth remembering
Problems with legitimacy
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We elect leaders to sometimes do the policies that we don’t like. So what is
the difference between illegitimate policies and necessary but not liked
policies? (except from flagrant cases)
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Can an undemocratic regime be legitimate?
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What happens if only 20% of the eligible people turn up for elections?
Is the candidate that wins a legitimate ruler?
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All throughout we assume that people are rational actors that are (almost)
perfectly informed. What happens when they are not informed or can be
easily manipulated?
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See the rise of far-right parties in Europe using a lot of rhetoric
Next time...
Applied Ethics