Showing papers on "Legitimacy published in 1998"

Governance without government? Rethinking public administration

Abstract: The concept of governance has come to be used more commonly in the discussion of public administration, but the meaning of the term is not always clear. There is a growing body of European literature that can be characterized as "governance without government, " stressing as it does the importance of networks, partnerships, and markets (especially international markets). This body of literature can be related to the new public management; yet it has a number of distinctive elements. This article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of this literature and its applicability to public administration in the United States. The traditional conceptualization of the public sector has come under increasing strain during the past several decades. The idea that national governments are the major actors in public policy and that they are able to influence the economy and society through their actions now appears to be in doubt. Some of the strain on national governments has been the result of the increased importance of the international environment and of an arguably diminished capacity of those governments to insulate their economies and societies from the global pressures. Those pressures on national governments come about through international capital markets (Strange 1996; but see Hirst and Thompson 1996; Peters 1998) as well as through supranational organizations such as the European Union (Scharpf 1997). Another strain on the traditional conception of governing arises from changes in the relationship between government and the private sector. At the extreme it is argued that "governance without government" is becoming the dominant pattern of management for advanced industrial democracies (Rhodes 1997). Other characterizations include "hollow" states and governments 223/Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory J-PART 8(1998):2:223-243 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.163 on Wed, 23 Nov 2016 04:26:57 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Rethinking Public Administration (Peters 1993; Rhodes 1994) and "negotiated" states and economies (Nielsen and Pedersen 1990). In all these depictions of changing patterns of government, it is argued that societal actors have become influential over policy and administration and have done so in ways that were unimaginable in earlier times. Government is seen as weakened and as incapable of "steering" as it had in the past. The traditional concept of government as a controlling and regulating organization for society is argued to be outmoded (Bekke, Kickert, and Kooiman 1995). The discussion of governance without government has been largely European and has concentrated primarily in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The European roots of this debate appear to be in part a function of the preeminent role of government in the welfare state in Europe and of the strength and established position of interest groups in these societies (Kooiman 1993; Schmitter and Lembruch 1979). In essence government has much more power to lose, more areas of policy involvement, and a network structure already in place that can replace or supplement the power of government. In the United Kingdom the emergence of this pattern of governing is a direct challenge to the Whitehall model of strong, centralized government. Although the governance debate has been largely European, it is beginning to diffuse to the United States. There is some objective evidence that the same changes-such as contracting, public-private partnerships, and a variety of other interactions with the private sector-move government away from its role as the central source of the "authoritative allocation of values" for the society. Also, in the United States there is the beginning of a body of literature that relates these changes in the relationship with society to broader questions of managing the State (O'Toole 1997; Thomas 1997). The objectives and concrete design of administrative reform mirror the historical, political, and societal roles of public administration as well as its internal culture. Such reforms are path-dependent, probably to a much greater extent than we generally realize. Path-dependency refers to the range of policy choice available for administrative reformers; reform strategies are embedded in systems of norms and administrative practices and therefore reform strategies are shaped more by what already exists than by the desired model of public administration. In this article we will examine the emerging governance debate in Europe and the United States and will describe both the dimensions of the debate over the capacity of the state to continue to govern as it has in the past and the development of 224/J-PART, April 1998 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.163 on Wed, 23 Nov 2016 04:26:57 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Rethinking Public Administration alternative mechanisms for exerting control over society. We will also address the question of whether this is purely an academic debate, the product of developing a theoretical language suitable for the analysis, or whether a real change is occurring in the nature of government. WHAT IS THE GOVERNANCE DEBATE? The conception of governance as it has developed over the past several years in the European debate has several constituent elements. As we indicated above, however, taken together these elements would amount to a prescription for steering society through less direct means and weakening the power of the State to control policy. These changes would, in turn, have implications for the meaning of democracy in the contemporary political system. We will not evaluate these arguments here; rather we will save that for the discussion of how the governance arguments fit within the context of both European and American public administration. The Importance of Networks Perhaps the dominant feature of the governance model is the argument that networks have come to dominate public policy. The assertion is that these amorphous collections of actors-not formal policy-making institutions in government-control policy. State agencies may place some imprimatur on the policy, so the argument goes, but the real action occurs within the private sector. Further, in the more extreme versions of the argument, if governments attempt to impose control over policy, these networks have sufficient resiliency and capacity for self-organization1 (Kooiman 1993; Marsh and Rhodes 1992; de Bruijn and ten Heuvelhof 1997) to evade the control of govermment. It long has been argued that the private sector has real influence over public policy through structures with varying degrees of formality, but this conception carries the argument to that of dominance. This dominance is possible partly because the State has become delegitimated. The loss of legitimacy is in part because state actors are excessively clumsy, bureaucratic, and path dependent and in part because of the control of information and implementation structures by private actors. It appears that whatever the State does it does poorly, while the private sector (for profit and not for profit) is more effective. 225/J-PART, April 1998 'Especially within the Dutch and Germnan literature the term autopoesis is used to describe this self-organizing nature of

A Multidimensional Model of Organizational Legitimacy: Hospital Survival in Changing Institutional Environments

Abstract: Using data on 143 hospital organizations, this article examines the antecedents and effects of two forms of organizational legitimacy (managerial and technical) over a 46-year period Results show that both the managerial and technical forms provide notable improvements in organizational survival chances but that the strength of each effect varies over time depending on the nature of the institutional environment Variation also appears in the antecedents of legitimacy - for example, the ability of a hospital to secure approval for its managerial practices depends on the correspondence between its mission and the logic of the surrounding institutional environment The results suggest that a multidimensional model can reveal nuances of organizational legitimacy that are missed by more unitary conceptions

Europe’s ‘Democratic Deficit’: The Question of Standards

Abstract: Arguments about Europe’s democratic deficit are really arguments about the nature and ultimate goals of the integration process. Those who assume that economic integration must lead to political integration tend to apply to European institutions standards of legitimacy derived from the theory and practice of parliamentary democracies. We argue that such standards are largely irrelevant at present. As long as the majority of voters and their elected representatives oppose the idea of a European federation, while supporting far-reaching economic integration, we cannot expect parliamentary democracy to flourish in the Union. Economic integration without political integration is possible only if politics and economics are kept as separate as possible. The depoliticisation of European policy-making is the price we pay in order to preserve national sovereignty largely intact. These being the preferences of the voters, we conclude that Europe’s ‘democratic deficit’ is democratically justified. The expression ‘democratic deficit,’ however, is also used to refer to the legitimacy problems of non-majoritarian institutions, and this second meaning is much more relevant to a system of limited competences such as the EC. Now the key issues for democratic theory are about the tasks which may be legitimately delegated to institutions insulated from the political process, and how to design such institutions so as to make independence and accountability complementary and mutually supporting, rather than antithetical. If one accepts the ‘regulatory model’ of the EC, then, as long as the tasks delegated to the European level are precisely and narrowly defined, non-majoritarian standards of legitimacy should be sufficient to justify the delegation of the necessary powers.

Freeing ourselves from neo-colonial domination in research: A Maori approach to creating knowledge

Abstract: This analysis is undertaken by a researcher who is a member of an indigenous minority, the Maori people of Aotearoa New Zealand. This paper examines, by reference to a recent meta-study of five research projects conducted within Maori contexts, an indigenous initiative in research within Aotearoa New Zealand, an initiative that is termed Kaupapa (agenda philosophy) Maori research. This agenda for research is concerned with how research practice might realize Maori desires for self-determination, while addressing contemporary research issues of authority and legitimacy. This paper suggests that it is the cultural aspirations, understandings, and practices of Maori people that implement and organize the research process and that position researchers in such a way as to operationalize self-determination (agentic positioning and behavior) for research participants. The cultural context positions the participants by constructing the story lines and with them the cultural metaphors and images, as well as the ''...

Strategies of Engagement: Lessons From the Critical Examination of Collaboration and Conflict in An Interorganizational Design

Abstract: Many writers advocate interorganizational collaboration as a solution to a range of organizational and in tersectoral problems. Accordingly, they often concentrate on its functional aspects. We argue that collaboration deserves a more critical examination, particularly when the interests of stakeholders conflict and the balance of power between them is unequal. Using examples from a study of the UK refugee system, we argue that collaboration is only one of several possible strategies of engagement used by organizations as they try to manage the interorganizational domain in which they operate. In this paper, we discuss four such strategies: collaboration, compliance, contention and contestation. By examining the stakeholders in the domain and asking who has formal authority, who controls key resources, and who is able to discursively manage legitimacy, resear chers are in a stronger position to evaluate both the benefits and costs of these strategies and to differentiate more clearly between strategies that are truly collaborative and strategies that are not. In other words, we hope to demonstrate that collabo ration between organizations is not necessarily "good", conflict is not necessarily "bad", and surface dynamics are not necessarily an accurate representation of what is going on beneath.

On the Legitimacy of National High Courts

Abstract: The purpose of this research is to examine theories of diffuse support and institutional legitimacy by testing hypotheses about the interrelationships among the salience of courts, satisfaction with court outputs, and diffuse support for national high courts. Like our predecessors, we are constrained by essentially cross-sectional data; unlike them, we analyze mass attitudes toward high courts in eighteen countries. Because our sample includes many countries with newly formed high courts, our cross-sectional data support several longitudinal inferences, using the age of the judicial institution as an independent variable. We discover that the U.S. Supreme Court is not unique in the esteem in which it is held and, like other courts, it profits from a tendency of people to credit it for pleasing decisions but not to penalize it for displeasing ones. Generally, older courts more successfully link specific and diffuse support, most likely due to satisfying successive, nonoverlapping constituencies.

Ethnicity, patronage and the african state: the politics of uncivil nationalism

Abstract: Recent research has revealed that modern African ethnicity is a social construction of the colonial period through the reactions of pre-colonial societies to the social, economic, cultural and political forces of colonialism. Ethnicity is the product of a continuing historical process, always simultaneously old and new, grounded in the past and perpetually in creation. Colonial states were grounded in the alliances with local 'Big Men', incorporating ethnically-defined administrative units linked to the local population by incorporation of pre-colonial patron-client relations. This was reinforced by European assumptions of neatly bounded and culturally homogeneous 'tribes' and a bureaucratic preoccupation with demarcating, classifying and counting subject populations, as well as by the activities of missionaries and anthropologists. African ethnic invention emerged through internal struggles over moral economy and political legitimacy tied to the definition of ethnic communities—moral ethnicity; and external conflicts over differential access to the resources of modernity and economic accumulation—political tribalism. Ethnicities were, in particular, the creations of elites seeking the basis for a conservative modernization. The colonial legacy of bureaucratic authoritarianism, pervasive patron-client relations, and a complex ethnic dialectic of assimilation, fragmentation and competition has persisted in post-colonial societies. Patron-client networks remain the fundamental state-society linkage in circumstances of social crisis and uncertainty and have extended to the very centre of the state. This accounts for the personalistic, materialistic and opportunistic character of African politics. Such networks also penetrate institutions of civil society and liberal democracy, undermining programmes of socio-economic and political reform.

The regulatory state and its legitimacy problems

Abstract: While the interventionist state was characterised by a high level of centralisation in administration and policy making, the regulatory state relies on extensive delegation of powers to independent institutions: regulatory agencies or commissions, but also the judiciary which is becoming an increasingly active player in the regulatory game. Delegation of important policy‐making powers to non‐majoritarian institutions raises novel problems of democratic legitimacy. This article argues that such problems should be tackled not by limiting the independence of the regulators, but rather by strengthening the accountability structure. Similar problems arise at the European level. Here, too, the correct solution is a better accountability structure rather than increased politicisation. The de‐politicisation of European policy making is a consequence of the fact that the large majority of Europe's voters support far‐reaching economic integration but oppose true political integration.

New and Old Wars

Abstract: Preface to the Third Edition Abbreviations 1. Introduction 2. Old Wars 3. Bosnia-Herzegovina: A Case Study of a New War 4. The Politics of New Wars 5. The Globalized War Economy 6. Towards a Cosmopolitan Approach 7. The New Wars' in Iraq and Afghanistan 8. Governance, Legitimacy and Security Afterword Notes Index

The study of the European Union II: the ‘new governance’ agenda and its rival

Abstract: The article reviews the current study of the European Union (EU), where a new agenda is emerging under the umbrella of ‘new governance’. Despite its eclecticism, this agenda argues that the EU is not a state, but is a unique system of non-hierarchical, regulatory and deliberative governance. This agenda also conceptualizes the EU as sui generis, explains its development primarily by (new) institutional theory, and suggests that legitimacy is guaranteed through transparent, pareto-efficient and consensual outputs. Nevertheless, this agenda is open to criticism on empirical, methodological, theoretical and normative levels. Such a dialectic suggests a new duality in the study of the EU: between the new governance approach, and a less developed rival agenda, which treats EU politics and government as not inherently unique, compares the EU to other political systems, explains outcomes through rational strategic action, and suggests that legitimacy can be guaranteed through classic democratic competit...

Legitimacy and the European Union

Abstract: Most of the contemporary debates about the European Union - about its role, its institutional arrangements, its development dynamic, its expansion and possible futures - revolve around the issue of political legitimacy. Legitimacy and the European Union addresses the fundamental issues at the heart of the debates on Europe and examines such key questions as:- -What is the scope of the EU's authority -Is there a legitimacy deficit? If so, how much does it matter -Does political legitimacy only reside in the nation state? Using a multi-dimensional conception of political legitimacy, the text analyses the character and problems of the European Union's authority in respect of democracy, political identity and governmental performance. Its distinctive claim is that political legitimacy can now only be understood as a process of interaction between the state and EU levels, and that this interaction impacts differentially on different member states.

Narrative, Politics and Legitimacy in an IT Implimentation

Abstract: This paper offers an interpretation of an information technology (IT) implementation through an analysis of group narratives. A focus on narrative is valuable because it facilitates recognition of the extent to which interpretive research involves the creation and ascription of meaning in ways that require authorial reflexivity. An analysis based on group narratives, which incorporate plurivocal understandings of actions and events, is also a means by which polysemy can more easily be read back into ethnography. The research contribution this paper makes is twofold. First, it exemplifies the importance of narratives for individuals and groups in their attempts to understand and give meaning to their technologies and working lives. Second, it illustrates how narratives can be deployed in political attempts to legitimate their actions and interests.

Putting Islam to work : education, politics, and religious transformation in Egypt

Abstract: The development of mass education and the mass media have transformed the Islamic tradition in contemporary Egypt and the wider Muslim world. In "Putting Islam to Work", Gregory Starrett focuses on the historical interplay of power and public culture, showing how these new forms of communication and a growing state interest in religious instruction have changed the way the Islamic tradition is reproduced. During the twentieth century new styles of religious education, based not on the recitation of sacred texts but on moral indoctrination, have been harnessed for use in economic, political, and social development programs. More recently they have become part of the Egyptian government's strategy for combating Islamist political opposition. But in the course of this struggle, the western-style educational techniques that were adopted to generate political stability have instead resulted in a rapid Islamization of public space, the undermining of traditional religious authority structures, and a crisis of political legitimacy. Using historical, textual, and ethnographic evidence, Gregory Starrett demonstrates that today's Islamic resurgence is rooted in new ways of thinking about Islam that are based in the market, the media, and the school.

Losing Legitimacy: Street Crime And The Decline Of Social Institutions In America

Abstract: * Understanding Postwar Crime Trends * Riding the Wave: Street Crime Trends in Postwar America * Offender Characteristics and Crime Trends in Postwar America * Evaluating Common Explanations of Crime * Crime and Social Institutions * Crime and American Political Institutions * Crime and American Economic Institutions * Crime and Changes in the American Family * Institutional Responses to the Legitimacy Crisis: Criminal Justice, Education, and Welfare * Crime and Institutional Legitimacy in Postwar America

Democracy, War Initiation, and Victory

Abstract: How do nation-states' political institutions affect the relations between states? This article addresses that question by testing the predictions of different theories linking political institutions to war outcomes. Specifically, rent-seeking and regime legitimacy theories predict that all democratic belligerents are more likely to win wars because they fight more effectively. Alternatively, other theories focusing on the domestic political vulnerability of leaders and the marketplace of ideas predict that democracies are likely to be more careful about choosing when to start war. This would mean that only democratic initiators are more likely to win. Analyzing all interstate wars from 1816 to 1982 with a multivariate probit model, we find that democratic initiators are significantly more likely to win wars; democratic targets are also more likely to win, though the relationship is not as strong. We also find empirical support for several control variables, including strategy, terrain, and capability.

The politics-administration dichotomy model as aberration

Abstract: One of the most important and enduring theoretical constructs in public administration is the politics-administration dichotomy model. It has been useful for marking off the boundaries of public administration as an intellectual field and for asserting the normative relationship between elected officials and administrators in a democratic society. It has been a convenient straw man for public administrationists; to attack and has been criticized as being irrelevant to current conditions. Montjoy and Watson (1995) have recently observed that the main shortcoming of the model comes from using it as a guide to describing actual behavior in the policy-making process. They argue that the model, as they have interpreted it, "remains important as a normative standard in the profession of local government management." They express the view also held by many practitioners that the dichotomy model is useful because it provides a rationale for insulating the practice of public administration from political interference. The debate about the utility of the original or a reinterpreted version of the model misses a fundamental point: the dichotomy model is not what it seems. It is not an idea that can be traced back to the origins of the field of public administration or the municipal reform movement. Rather than trying to explain or rehabilitate the model, it is more appropriate to view it as an idea that emerged relatively late and that deviated from the ideas of the founders of public administration and the framers of the council-manager form of government. It is important for academics to get their intellectual history right and stop presenting simplistic and historically inaccurate explanations of how the field began and evolved. In addition, practitioners and promoters of the council-manager form should recognize that they have been disadvantaged by the pervasive attitude that the form is based originally on the dichotomy model and realize that they weaken the legitimacy of city managers as comprehensive leaders by perpetuating this notion. Let us be dear about the definition of the concept. As it applies to local government, the dichotomy model holds that: * The city council does not get involved in administration. * The city manager has no involvement in shaping policies, * The manager occupies the role of a neutral expert who efficiently and effectively carries out the policies of the council. (Presumably, administrators do not exercise discretion, for to do so opens the door to interpreting policy and choosing how and to what went it will be applied.) Montjoy and Watson characterize a similar definition as a "strict version" of the doctrine, and they propose a "reinterpreted dichotomy" that reinforces legislative supremacy while permitting a policy-making role for the manager, but still helps managers resist the forces of particularism (1995, 231). While these ideas would be acceptable to die early thinkers in public administration and municipal reform, they are different from the dichotomy model rather than a reinterpretation of it. The "strict" definition is the dichotomy model. It is not conceptually possible as Montjoy and Watson suggest and as many practitioners would prefer, to have a one-way dichotomy that keeps elected officials out of administration but allows administrators to be active in policy making. The dichotomy model, standing alone, is an aberration. It is associated with the dominant concepts of orthodox public administration during the twenties and thirties and is essentially different from concepts of democracy and administration that preceded and followed it. The historical record shows that die dichotomy model came along after the founding period of public administration and the creation of the council-manager form. The early statements by Wilson and Goodnow were an attempt to define the field and to defend public administrators from interference by elected officials and party organizations, but their view of government does not match the features of the dichotomy model. …

People and Parliament in the European Union

Abstract: 1. Electoral Participation, Democracy, and Legitimacy in the European Union 2. The Extent and Nature of the Problem of Abstention in European Parliament Elections 3. Legitimacy and Participation 4. Interest, Knowledge, and Participation 5. The European Parliament: Power, Responsiveness, Image, and Participation 6. Parties, Candidates, and Campaigns 7. Turnout in Context: Variations among the Member States 8. Sources of Turnout and Abstention in the European Parliament 9. Conclusion: Participation, Democracy, and Legitimacy in the European Union

Legitimacy, Authority, and Community in Electronic Support Groups:

Abstract: In electronic support groups, people use Internet-based electronic text communication to discuss personal problems or disorders with others who share common circumstances. Although their discussions exist only in the electronic medium, these groups can be viewed usefully as discourse communities. The authors draw on what is known about two other popular sources of help—face-to-face self-help groups and self-help books—to frame the rhetorical challenges faced by members of electronic support groups. The authors then compare the discourse of electronic support groups with that of electronic hobby groups to demonstrate that the two sets differ in terms of the rhetorical behavior of their participants. The authors analyze messages to determine how members establish legitimacy and authority in their texts and how message exchange gives rise to group identity and a sense of community. Our observations indicate that although some discourse characteristics and some rhetorical features are common to all the electr...

Virtualism : a new political economy

Abstract: ion in western economic practice, James G. Carrier the triumph of economics - or, "rationality" can be dangerous to your reasoning, Ben Fine abstraction, reality and the gender of "economic man", Julie Nelson development and structural adjustment, Philip McMichael cash for quotas - disputes over the legitimacy of an economic model of fishing in Iceland, Agnar Helgason and Gisli Palsson the transnational capitalist class, Leslie Sklair virtual capitalism - the globalization of reflexive business knowledge, Nigel Thrift conclusion, Daniel Miller.

The Color of Crime

Abstract: justice. The legal evolution from the slave codes to the Black codes to Jim Crow legislation, establish a clear link to the operation of today's criminal justice system. This chapter concludes with a list of six principles that are minimally required for a racially-fair criminal justice system. Perhaps most problematic in the current system, is the question of whether their are adequate checks and balances that mitigate against racial bias in the legal system. "Racial Discr imina tion or Disproport iona te Offending?" (Chapter 3) offers a detailed critique of how mainstream criminologists measure discrimination. The problems of beginning a discrimination analysis with the formal stages of the justice system (e.g., arrest), as well as the problems of generalizing from single and multi-stage discrimination studies are discussed. Racial discrimination is not limited to the formal stages. The phenomenon of "DWB" (Driving While Black) is perhaps the best counterpoint to mainstream analysis. Police stops which do not result in arrest do not trigger the formal stage, therefore, fall outside typical measures of racial discrimination. The perception that many Blacks have, particularly Black men, that they are targeted by the police is not a lightweight matter. The perception and reality of disproportionate minority targeting has everything to do with how minorities view the justice system and its legitimacy. For good or ill, a book which purports to be about race and crime would not be complete without some discussion of the O.J. Simpson criminal trial. In Chapter 4, "Are we Still Talking About O.J.?," the focus is upon the criminal trial as a Rorschach test rather than an isolated, rare event. Although we were bombarded, ad nauseam, with the criminal trial, very little of the data and analysis were new. Much of media discussion was an outgrowth of the early polls, which showed that there was a deep Black/White racial divide in the case. This chapter is a critique of both the media presentations of all-things O.J., and what the media failed to present about the case. The common portrayal was that Blacks were on one side of the fence, shouting down an equal number of Whites on the other side. Very little of the media images showed that there were more Whites --in actual numbers--who believed in Simpson's innocence, than there were Blacks. There were so many unanswered questions, including, were perceptions about Simpson's guilt partly attributable to one's class status? Too few polls reported data on the intersection of class and race. Further, why were so many Blacks so quick to jump to O.J. Simpson's defense? This chapter attempts to reconcile how Simpson, viewed by himself and others as "colorless," became a symbol of racism in the criminal justice system. How did this

Legitimacy and the Limits of Nationalism: China and the Diaoyu Islands

Abstract: Influenced by the resurgence of nationalism in the post-Cold War era, international relations scholars have produced a pessimistic evaluation of ways that nationalism increases the chances of international conflict. Three broad themes have emerged in the literature. The first focuses on the use of nationalism to divert attention from the state's inability to meet societal demands for security, economic development, and effective political institutions.' Illegitimate regimes may seek to bolster their grip on power by blaming foreigners for their own failures, increasing international tensions.' The second looks at groups within the state that have expansionist or militarist goals. By propagating nationalist or imperialist myths, they can generate broad public support for their parochial intere s t ~ . ~ The third emphasizes how political elites can incite nationalism to gain an advantage in domestic political competition. Nationalism can be used both to mobilize support for threatened elites and to fend off potential challenger^.^ This function can be particularly important in democratizing or liberalizing authoritarian regimes, which lack established political institutions to channel

Public Opinion and Internationalized Governance

Abstract: PART I: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES PART II: SUPPORT FOR EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PART III: LEVELS OF LEGITIMACY PART IV: ENALARGING THE SCOPE OF INTERNATIONALIZED GOVERNANCE

The Constitution of Iran: Politics and the State in the Islamic Republic

Abstract: Part 1 Contradictions in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic: the composition of the Constitution the genesis of the Constitution the clash over velayat-e faqih Part 2 The supression of the democratic elements: the power of the leader the impotence of the people the supression of fundamental rights the power of the clergy Part 3 The fate of the Constitution's Islamic legalist elements: the unavoidable acceptance of laws alien to the shari'a circumventing the shari'a through the Rule of Emergency circumventing the shari'a through Secondary Contractual Conditions state ordinances the interests of the ruling system as a standard for legislation a problematic criterion of legitimacy Part 4 The crisis of the shari'a: an awareness of crisis the search for solutions criticism from outside

A question of silence : the sexual economies of modern India

Abstract: Has there been a "conspiracy of silence" regarding sexuality in India, be it within social movements or as a focus of scholarship? This study analyzes this assumption in order to thematize a crucial field. Prefaced by a detailed introductory overview, the essays use diverse perspectives to develop an understanding of the institutions, practices and forms of representation of sexual relations and their boundaries of legitimacy. From unravelling the "Kamasutra" (the text) to investigating Kamasutra (the condom), the volume includes essays on how sexuality has been framed by the law, within social movements, or has been the site for patrolled caste, ethnic or gender identities. Other essays analyze cinematic, televisual and literary representations of sexuality.

Remarks on legitimation through human rights

Abstract: In this essay I use the term 'legitimation' (and the associated term 'legitimacy') in a doubly restricted sense: I am referring, first, to the legitimation of political systems and, second, only to the legitimation of constitutional democracies. I begin by recalling a proposal I have made for reconstructing the internal relation between democracy and human rights. 2 I then briefly examine a few of the aspects under which this Western style of legitimation is criticized today - whether in the discourse among Western theorists or in the discourses between other cultures and the West.

The making of Israeli militarism

Abstract: " . . . an original interpretation of the wide-ranging impact of the military on Israeli society . . . one of the most insightful works on Israeli society in general." -Gershon Shafir From the early days of the Yishuv, militarism and the military have become a way of life for Israelis. Focusing on the period between 1936 and 1956, Uri Ben-Eliezer traces the ways in which military force acquired legitimacy in civilian society and how the use of organized violence became an acceptable solution to conflicts, especially the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The political and organizational response to gangs: An examination of a “Moral panic” in Nevada

Abstract: Some social scientists contend that the nature, frequency, and severity of a particular condition or issue are often grossly exaggerated in order to justify further economic or political action or to enhance the legitimacy of various affected organizations. The result can be a “moral panic,” a situation in which public fears and state interventions greatly exceed the objective threat. Using legislative records, media accounts, and official crime data, we examine whether the response to gangs in Las Vegas constituted a moral panic. After reviewing past research, we analyze data to examine the possible discrepancy between the perceived and the actual severity of the gang problem. We also describe factors that lead to the onset and decline of the moral panic in this particular jurisdiction. We conclude with a discussion of the results as they relate to the “threat” hypothesis and to the political and organizational response to youth gangs in other jurisdictions.

Corporate legitimacy in risk society: the case of Brent Spar

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to understand what lessons on corporate legitimacy can be drawn from the Shell – Greenpeace conflict in 1995 about the dumping of the Brent Spar oil storage platform in the North-East Atlantic. Based on theories of corporate legitimacy and risk society, it is argued that the Brent Spar conflict reflects a new balance between business, government and civil society as well as a radicalization of the requirements for corporate legitimacy. As a part of these new and more demanding requirements, corporations will need to address a much broader scope of responsibilities and a wider circle of stakeholders than suggested so far by theories of stakeholder management. In addition, corporations will need to develop new and trustworthy forms of dialogue with the public. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Governing Out of Order: Space, Law and the Politics of Belonging

Abstract: Davina Cooper explores governing practices and agendas at the end of the twentieth century, focusing on institutional excess and political transgression, inevitable aspects of modern liberal rule. She examines the identity of the nation-state and its relationship to the wider community to consider the boundaries of the way we are governed.How far should state institutions be able to assert and implement their moral, ethical, and religious visions without losing legitimacy? Cooper illustrates the sites of tension that arise through a number of conflicts, applying recent socio-legal and political theory to her own original research. Governing Out of Order examines issues which include the way British courts have facilitated the privatization of local government, the Canada -- Spain fishing wars, how political and civil bodies struggle over national identity, homosexuality, education, hunting, and religious practice.Davina Cooper asks how governing can be both responsible and radical. She argues that governing principles should be ideologically explicit, prepared to contest and transgress divisions of authority to pursue a multi-cultural, egalitarian vision of political responsibility. Governing Out of Order raises questions and concerns echoed throughout liberal states. It will be a key book for students and scholars in political and social theory, law, and cultural studies.

From legal realism to law and Society : Reshaping Law for the last stages of the social activist state

Abstract: This article tells the story of the establishment of the Law and Society Association in the early to mid-1960s. To tell the story, the authors concentrate on the personal stories of the individuals active in that early period and on four university campus sites-the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Denver, Northwestern University, and the University of Wisconsin-at which much of the impetus was focused. They also examine key institutions that funded and/or encouraged links between law and social science-the Russell Sage Foundation, the Walter E. Meyer Research Institute of Law, and the American Bar Foundation. The article seeks also to investigate more generally the factors that came together to build a field of law and social science-which in turn helped to provide the ideas and build the institutions involved in the Johnson administration's War on Poverty. The field was created in part by a process involving both competition and cooperation between law and social science over the new terrain of social problems of racial discrimination, poverty, and crime. The authors suggest that, over time, the center of gravity of the field moved toward law, leaving the social science disciplines for the most part outside. The development of the field generally was also affected by the strong shift in the relative values of these social sciences-especially sociology-in relation to economics in the 1980s. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, a network of social scientists and law professors took advantage of the rising prestige of social science to renew the Legal Realists' challenge to "legal formalism." One result of the new attack on behalf of social science was the Law and Society Association-now more than 30 years old. The LSA has grown and in many respects thrived over that period. Whether this history should be characterized as a "success" can of course be debated. From whatever position we assess the LSA's accomplishments, however, it is important to recognize that both accomplishments and limitations have been shaped by the individuals who "made up" the LSA in the first place. This article explores the origins and early years of the Law and Society Association. We seek to shed light on a number of theoretical concerns about the relationship between law and social science, but the primary ambition is simply to investigate this genealogy. As should be obvious, we believe we can understand the LSA-and our own careers and approachesl-better if we can make sense of the generation that preceded us. Not surprisingly, we consider the stories of the fathers and mothers of the LSA fascinating for their own sake. We would also like others to learn about these individuals, what brought them together, and what emerged as a consequence. Instead of trying to force the story into a carefully honed argument directed toward a series of theoretical conclusions, therefore, we have given precedence to the details of the personal stories of the protagonists. At the same time, however, we have imposed what we hope is a relatively gentle framework of structural sociology. The story of LSA provides a perfect window to examine the question of the relationship between law and social science. More generally, that relationship is itself central to issues about the transformation of the state. Academics and academic ideas provide the expertise and legitimacy crucial to such transformations. What is normally characterized as "academic gossip," therefore, is quite important to our theoretical interests, since academic ideas are not only produced and shaped by the "pull of the policy audience" (Sarat & Silbey 1988) but also by the need to build careers in a very hierarchical and status-conscious academic world (cf. van Maanen 1977). The stories that intersect in this article are the product of many accidental circumstances, but the opportunities that were presented were not random events. Opportunities in the area of law and social science depended on what resources these individuals could bring, what the external world meant for the value of those resources, and the informal networks that provided the knowledge and information necessary to learn and take advantage of opportunities. …