Legitimacy

1. What is the difference between internal and external sovereignty?

2. In what ways is globalization and interdependence impacting state sovereignty?

3. How might sovereignty and legitimacy be intertwined?

Prescribed Content: 

• Legitimacy of state power

• Legitimacy of non state actors

• Political parties

1. In groups, what makes something "legit"? Choose a topic/subject of any type (as long as it is NOT political) and provide characteristics as to why you would describe it as "legitimate".

2. What makes the government of a nation-state, an NGO or IGO legitimate? In other words, how do they achieve legitimacy with members of society?

The president and his closest advisers [were] referred to as the “three-man republic” of Ghani, his national security adviser Hamdullah Mohib, and the head of the presidential administrative office, Fazal Mahmood Fazli. All have spent long periods abroad and, like many senior bureaucrats, hold second passports. Some in the president’s circle are not fluent in either of Afghanistan’s two official languages, Dari and Pashtu.

“The issue of legitimacy is very important,” said Enayat Najafizada, founder of the Institute of War and Peace Studies, a Kabul-based think tank. He noted the presidential elections that returned Ghani for a second term in 2020 were tainted with corruption, a point well made by Taliban propagandists.

“Legitimacy comes from the ballot, but then you have to deliver or people will turn on you. And that has not been done for five or six years. There has been a disconnect between the government and the Afghan people,” said Najafizada. “Policies and strategies are extremely discriminatory, divisive and narrow-minded. Ghani claims to know this country very well. Maybe in theory, but in practice he is a failure.”

From Foreign Policy Magazine: What Went Wrong With Afghanistan's Defense Forces? by Lynne O'Donnell

Assessing Legitimacy Across the World

1. Go to Freedom House's most recent report and look at a country of your choosing. What legitimacy issues is the country you chose facing that is preventing them from scoring higher on the index?

2. Next, look at The Economist's Democracy Index and look for the same country you chose in question one, what legitimacy challenges do they face in this index? 

   1. Now, review the methodology and the section on "measuring and defining democracy" of The Economist's Democracy Index. Why do you think the five categories are key indicators of legitimacy (and as a result a functioning democracy the embodiment of legitimacy)? Why do they prioritize: whether national elections are free and fair, the security of voters, the influence of foreign powers on government and the capability of the civil service to implement policies?

   2. How do they define democracy?

   3. What is the difference between thin and thick democracy?

   4. How does the Democracy index differentiate itself from the Freedom House index?

3. Go to the Fragile State Index, again, look at the same country. What factors is the Fragile State Index looking for in their indicators (particularly P1 and P3) that highlight the importance of legitimacy to ensure the stability of a nation? What connections do you see between these factors and democracy in general? 

4. The OECD and the World Bank also have Fragile State Reports, if you are interested you can take a look here: OECD State of Fragility Reports; World Bank's Fragile Situations List. You can also review the Carter Center Election Standards, particularly the "election parts" and "obligations" sections and the links therein and choose five items that you think are most critical to the legitimacy of an election.

Complete this quiz on Legitimacy HERE

Read and makes notes on the following excerpts from pages 75-87 in Lamy for next class.