I Trends in Theorizing Democratic Legitimacy
| Author | Joanna Rak |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00208345231169113 |
| Published date | 01 April 2023 |
| Date | 01 April 2023 |
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Trends in Theorizing Democratic Legitimacy
Joanna Rak
Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań
Abstract:
The current literature on democratic legitimacy is vital to addressing why assaults on democracy
are effective. The theoretical frameworks of the construction of legitimacy by international
organizations (IOs) help us comprehend how and why IOs seek support and when the results of
these quests effectively curb democratic backsliding in their member states. Furthermore, the
explanatory models of domestic democratic legi timacy allow us to understand how anti-
democratic actors claim the right to rule and what makes their claims successful. They also
explain what makes militant democracies fail. The theories differentiate between socially
attributed legitimacy and the acquisition of social legitimacy through claims to the right to rule.
Their conceptualizations differ depending on the audiences, claimants, and consequences of
legitimacy.
Keywords: democratic legitimacy theories, elite legitimacy beliefs, self-legitimation, militant
democracy and constitutional legitimacy, legitimacy in deliberative democracy
Introduction
The great economic crisis of 2007–2009, the refugee crisis, and the pandemic-induced crisis,
have revealed how vulnerable contemporary regimes are to anti-democratic threats. Populist
actors have managed to gain strong electoral support. In exchange for the promise of a return to
a pre-crisis lifestyle, restoration of national social structures, and broadly understood protections,
some polities have voluntarily given up political rights. At the same time, international
organizations have proven less effective in preventing such democratic backsliding. Democracy
is under attack worldwide. And yet, why these assaults are so effective remains puzzling.
The current literature on democratic legi timacy is vital to addressing this puzzle. It
contributes to our understanding of the ongoing erosion of democracy in multiple ways. First, the
theoretical frameworks of the construction of legitimacy by international organizations (IOs) help
us understand how and why IOs seek support and when the results of these quests are effective
in curbing democratic backsliding in their member states. Second, the explanatory models of
domestic democratic legitimacy allow us to comprehend how anti-democratic actors claim the
right to rule and what makes their claims successful. They also explain what makes self-
defending democracies fail. Both bodies of wor ks differentiate between socially attributed
legitimacy and the acquisition of social legitimacy through claims to the right to rule. However,
their conceptualizations differ depending on the audiences, claimants, and consequences of
legitimacy.
Engaging with recent developments, the article aims to discuss trends and challenges in
theorizing democratic legitimacy. It draws on a selection of articles published internationally in
political science journals between 2019–2022. The remainder of the article consists of six parts.
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