1.4 Legitimacy and Crisis
Key concepts: Legitimacy, Power, Sovereignty, Globalisation, Interdependence, Human Rights
Theoretical Perspectives: Realism, Liberalism, Post-colonialism, Marxism
New terms: constitution, democracy, authoritarianism, general will, social contract, revolution, authority: traditional, charismatic, legal rational; division of powers: legislative, judiciary, executive; electoral systems: proportional representation (PR) and first past the post (FPTP); constituency, MP, social movement
In this unit, we are going to interrogate the relationship between the government and its citizens in more detail. While we looked at the state’s external relations in unit 1.3, this unit places the focus on its internal relations.
We are going to look at different perspectives regarding the following questions:
- Why do people obey their government?
- What is legitimacy and what can it be based on?
- Why is democracy often seen to be the most legitimate form of government?
- What are some of the different varieties of democracy?
- How do democracies work, ideally, and what are some of their possible shortcomings?
- Should governments aim to rule by consent (legitimately), or is rule by fear and oppression sufficient?
- What can happen when legitimacy is lost and the social contract is broken?
We will explore these questions through the following case studies:
- The Catalan independence movement
- Race relations and policing in the USA
Required Reading
Heywood, Andrew: “Power, Authority and Legitimacy”, ch. 5 in Political Theory: An Introduction (extracts)
Van Hise, James: “Gene Sharp’s Theory of Power”, in Power and struggle, http://www.fragmentsweb.org/TXT2/p_srevtx.html (Accessed: 26 September 2013)
The Guardian: Black Lives Matter – the birth of a new civil rights movement, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/19/blacklivesmatter-birth-civil-rights-movement
Required viewing
Max Weber’s 3 types of legitimate authority: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Weud2ZLHmNY
Democracy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6jgWxkbR7A
DW: Crisis in Catalonia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOJ4w_OJA_E
BBC: NYPD, the biggest gang of New York?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8czfoME1sAo
Recommended Reading
Government of South Africa: How our democracy works, http://www.parliament.gov.za/content/3How%20our%20democracy%20works.pdf