Showing papers on "Legitimacy published in 2005"

Rhetorical Strategies of Legitimacy

Abstract: This paper describes the role of rhetoric in legitimating profound institutional change. In 1997, a Big Five accounting firm purchased a law firm, triggering a jurisdictional struggle within accoun...

The Problem of Global Justice

Abstract: By comparison with the perplexing and undeveloped state of this subject, domestic political theory is very well understood, with multiple highly developed theories offering alternative solutions to well-defined problems By contrast, concepts and theories of global justice are in the early stages of formation, and it is not clear what the main questions are, let alone the main possible answers I believe that the need for workable ideas about the global or international case presents political theory with its most important current task, and even perhaps with the opportunity to make a practical contribution in the long run, though perhaps only the very long run The theoretical and normative questions I want to discuss are closely related to pressing practical questions that we now face about the legitimate path forward in the governance of the world These are, inevitably, questions about institutions, many of which do not yet exist However imperfectly, the nation-state is the primary locus of political legitimacy and the pursuit of justice, and it is one of the advantages of domestic political theory that nation-states actually exist But when we are

Human rights in a globalizing world : The paradox of empty promises

Abstract: The authors examine the impact of the international human rights regime on governments' human rights practices. They propose an explanation that highlights a “paradox of empty promises.” Their core arguments are that the global institutionalization of human rights has created an international context in which (1) governments often ratify human rights treaties as a matter of window dressing, radically decoupling policy from practice and at times exacerbating negative human rights practices, but (2) the emergent global legitimacy of human rights exerts independent global civil society effects that improve states’ actual human rights practices. The authors’ statistical analyses on a comprehensive sample of government repression from 1976 to 1999 find support for their argument.

An Examination of Differences between Organizational Legitimacy and Organizational Reputation

Abstract: Organizational legitimacy and organizational reputation have similar antecedents, social construction processes and consequences. Nonetheless, an improved understanding of relationships between legitimacy and reputation requires that differences between the two be specified and clarified. Our examination of past research indicates that legitimacy emphasizes the social acceptance resulting from adherence to social norms and expectations whereas reputation emphasizes comparisons among organizations. We empirically examine two antecedents of the financial, regulatory, and public dimensions of legitimacy and reputation in a population of US commercial banks. We find that isomorphism improves legitimacy, but its effects on reputation depend on the bank's reputation. Moreover, higher financial performance increases reputation, but does not increase the legitimacy of high performing banks.

An Examination of Differences Between Organizational Legitimacy and Organizational Reputation

Abstract: Organizational legitimacy and organizational reputation have similar antecedents, social construction processes and consequences. Nonetheless, an improved understanding of relationships between legitimacy and reputation requires that differences between the two be specified and clarified. Our examination of past research indicates that legitimacy emphasizes the social acceptance resulting from adherence to social norms and expectations whereas reputation emphasizes comparisons among organizations. We empirically examine two antecedents of the financial, regulatory, and public dimensions of legitimacy and reputation in a population of US commercial banks. We find that isomorphism improves legitimacy, but its effects on reputation depend on the bank's reputation. Moreover, higher financial performance increases reputation, but does not increase the legitimacy of high performing banks.

Compassion and Repression: The Moral Economy of Immigration Policies in France

Abstract: Immigration policies in Europe in the last three decades have become increasingly restrictive. During the 1990s, political asylum lost much of its legitimacy, as new criteria based on humanitarian claims became more common in appeals for immigration. Asylum seekers were increasingly identified as illegal immigrants and therefore candidates for expulsion, unless humanitarian reasons could be found to requalify them as victims deserving sympathy. This substitution of a right to asylum by an obligation in terms of charity leads to a reconsideration of Giorgio Agamben's separation of the humanitarian and the political, suggesting instead a humanitarianization of policies. Sangatte Center, often referred to as a transit camp, became a symbol of this ambiguous European treatment of the “misery of the world” and serves here as an analytical thread revealing the tensions between repression and compassion as well as the moral economy of contemporary biopolitics.

Losers' Consent: Elections and Democratic Legitimacy

Abstract: Preface 1. Winning isn't Everything: Losers' Consent and Democratic Legitimacy PART 1: THE WINNER-LOSER GAP 2. Political Legitimacy and the Winner-Loser Gap 3. The Winner-Loser Gap: Contours and Boundaries 4. The Dynamics of Losers' Consent: Persistance and Change in the Winner-Loser Gap PART 2: UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENCES IN LOSERS' CONSENT 5. Individual Differences in Losers' Consent 6. Winning and Losing in Old and New Democracies 7. How Political Institutions Shape Losers' Consent 8. Comparing Losers' Assessments of Electoral Democracy 9. Losing and Support for Institutional Change 10. Conclusion: Graceful Losers and the Democratic Bargain Appendix References

The determinants of MNE subsidiaries' political strategies: evidence of institutional duality

Abstract: In this study, we develop and test a model of the determinants of political strategies used by foreign subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Using recent theoretical advances in institutional theory that recognize that MNE subsidiaries are confronted with pressures for isomorphism within the corporation (internal legitimacy) and within the host country (external legitimacy), we integrate international business and political strategy literatures to create a multilevel model of subsidiary, host country and parent determinants of political strategy. Our hypotheses are tested using survey and archival data from Western European subsidiaries of US MNEs.

Discourse and Power in a Multilingual World

Abstract: In Discourse and Power in a Multilingual World the discourse of politicians and policy-makers in Britain links languages other than English, and therefore speakers of these languages, with civil disorder and threats to democracy, citizenship and nationhood. These powerful arguments travel along ‘chains of discourse’ until they gain the legitimacy of the state, and are inscribed in law. The particular focus of this volume is on discourse linking ‘race riots’ in England in 2001 with the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 , which extended legislation to test the English language proficiency of British citizenship applicants. Adrian Blackledge develops a theoretical and methodological framework which draws on critical discourse analysis to reveal the linguistic character of social and cultural processes and structures; on Bakhtin’s notion of the dialogic nature of discourse to demonstrate how voices progressively gain authority; and on Bourdieu’s model of symbolic domination to illuminate the way in which linguistic-minority speakers may be complicit in the misrecognition, or valorisation, of the dominant language.

Legitimacy, Interest Group Pressures, and Change in Emergent Institutions: The Case of Foreign Investors and Host Country Governments

Abstract: We offer a simple model of policy making, emphasizing socialization and limits on human cognition to explicate mechanisms of change in emergent (as opposed to established) institutions. Emergent institutions are more susceptible to change, and their opponents may use frames or existing reference points to illustrate inconsistency with prevailing notions of legitimacy. Broader institutional structures and specific organizational characteristics moderate pressure for change. This perspective has novel implications for strategy and policy design.

Witchcraft, Violence, and Democracy in South Africa

Abstract: How does democracy fare when the people governed insist they live in a world with witches? If the government of a people afflicted by witchcraft refuses to punish witches, how does it avoid becoming alienated from the perceived needs of its people or, worse, seen as being in league with witches? In Soweto, South Africa, the constant threat of violent crime, the increase in black socio-economic inequality, the AIDS pandemic, and a widespread fear of witchcraft have converged to create a pervasive sense of insecurity among citizens and a unique public policy problem for government. In "Witchcraft, Violence, and Democracy in South Africa, " Adam Ashforth examines how people in Soweto and other parts of post-apartheid South Africa manage their fear of 'evil forces' such as witchcraft. Ashforth examines the dynamics of insecurity in the everyday life of Soweto at the turn of the twenty-first century. He develops a new framework for understanding occult violence as a form of spiritual insecurity and documents new patterns of interpretation attributing agency to evil forces. Finally, he analyzes the response of post-apartheid governments to issues of spiritual insecurity and suggests how these matters pose severe long-term challenges to the legitimacy of the democratic state.

Legitimacy in International Society

Abstract: Clark, Ian, Legitimacy in International Society (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp.viii+278

Getting Socialized to Build Bridges: Constructivism and Rationalism, Europe and the Nation-State

Abstract: Building on the empirical findings of the preceding articles, we advance three arguments. First, while socialization research has typically been construed as constructivism's home turf, this volume's emphasis on mechanisms and scope conditions reveals that rational choice has much to contribute here as well. We develop this claim by undertaking a “double interpretation” of each essay, which allows us to advance more fine-grained arguments connecting the two social theories. Second, while there are good conceptual reasons for expecting a predominance of international socialization in Europe, the empirical cases instead suggest that its effects are often weak and secondary to dynamics at the national level. We make sense of this puzzle by reasoning more explicitly in longitudinal terms, by drawing on work on European identity, and by noting that students of European socialization—as well as integration—have much to gain by “bringing the domestic back in.” Finally, while our collaborators have demonstrated the empirical and theoretical benefits of combining a social ontology with a positivist epistemology, this comes at a cost, with normative perspectives neglected. This matters—and all the more so in a Europe marked by supranational constitution- and polity building. Socialization dynamics may well take us beyond the nation-state, but their legitimacy and governance implications bring us back—forcefully—to it.We are grateful to the project participants and contributors to this volume for valuable discussions on the themes addressed here. For detailed comments on earlier versions of this essay, we thank two anonymous reviewers, the IO editors, Peter Katzenstein, and Ron Mitchell.

Network monarchy and legitimacy crises in Thailand

Abstract: This article argues that widely used ideas such as bureaucratic polity, constitutional monarchy, transitional democracy and political reform fail to characterize accurately the recent politics of Thailand. Instead, Thai politics are best understood in terms of political networks. The leading network of the period 1973–2001 was centred on the palace, and is here termed ‘network monarchy’. Network monarchy involved active interventions in the political process by the Thai King and his proxies, notably former prime minister Prem Tinsulanond. Network monarchy developed considerable influence, but never achieved the conditions for domination. Instead, the palace was obliged to work with and through other political institutions, primarily the elected parliament. Although essentially conservative, network monarchy also took on liberal forms during the 1990s. Thailand experienced three major legitimacy crises after 1992; in each case, Prem acted on behalf of the palace to restore political equilibrium. H...

Running in packs to develop knowledge-intensive technologies

Abstract: Advances in information technologies and the growth of a knowledge-based service economy are transforming the basis of technological innovation and corporate competition. This transformation requires taking a broader, institutional and political view of information technology and knowledge management. To succeed, firms are advised to focus on building their distinctive competencies, outsource the rest, and become nodes in value chain networks. This shifts the level of competition from between individual firms to between networks of firms. In these networks, individual firms or entrepreneurs seldom have the resources, power, or legitimacy to produce change alone. As a result, "running in packs" is often more successful than "going it alone" to develop and commercialize knowledge-intensive technologies. Many different actors in public and private sectors make important contributions. These actors do not play impartial roles; instead, they are active participants who become embroiled in diverse, partisan, and embedded issues of innovation development. In this setting, success requires not only technical and rational competence, but also political savvy to understand and mobilize the interests of other players with stakes in an emerging industry.

Rebuilding governance in failed states and post‐conflict societies: core concepts and cross‐cutting themes

Abstract: This overview article looks at the emergence of failed and post-conflict states on the international relations and assistance agenda, and at the importance of governance in establishing peace, pursuing state reconstruction and preventing conflict. It introduces the topic of the special issue, how effective governance can be re-established following societal conflict or war. After a brief review of the terminology of failed states, post-conflict and governance, the article discusses governance reconstruction in terms of three dimensions: reconstituting legitimacy, re-establishing security and rebuilding effectiveness. The article summarises key points made by the contributors to the special issue, who look at donor governance reconstruction agendas, security-sector governance and subnational governance. Several common themes emerge and are elaborated upon: similarities between development and post-conflict assistance; linkages among governance's legitimacy, effectiveness and security dimensions; rebuilding versus creating governance systems; local versus national governance reconstruction; formal versus informal governance. The article concludes with a call for further work to elaborate frameworks that can incorporate the particulars of individual countries in addressing legitimacy, security and effectiveness. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Democracy compromised : chiefs and the politics of the land in South Africa

Abstract: This book offers a historical analysis of the embattled structures of rural local governance in South Africa, with specific reference to the role of traditional authorities in Xhalanga in the Eastern Cape. More specifically, the book illustrates how at least in the Xhalanga district chieftainship was contested from the establishment of the district in 1865 to the advent of democracy in South Africa. Two related themes are addressed: the question of the survival of traditional authorities up to the postcolonial/apartheid era and the question of how traditional authorities derive their authority and legitimacy. The book shows that the survival of traditional authorities can be linked directly to their control of the land allocation process, rather than popular support. The issue of the legitimacy of traditional authorities, especially in a democracy, is investigated against the background of the tension in the 1993 Interim Constitution and the 1996 Constitution, which recognized the institution of traditional leadership. These constitutions, along with emerging post-1994 legislation, advocated a form of democracy that was based on the liberal principles of representation at all levels of government, including local government, while, at the same time, recognizing a hereditary institution of traditional leadership for rural residents. [ASC Leiden abstract].

The Political Origins of the Un Security Council's Ability to Legitimize the Use of Force

Abstract: At least since the Persian Gulf War, states have behaved "as if" it is costly to be unsuccessful in acquiring the legitimacy the UN Security Council confers on uses of force. This observation is puzzling for theories that seek the origins of modern institutional legitimacy in legalities or moral values. I argue that when governments and citizens look for an authority to legitimize the use of force, they generally do not seek an independent judgment on the appropriateness of an intervention but political reassurance about the consequences of proposed military adventures. Council decisions legitimize or delegitimize uses of force in the sense that they form widely accepted political judgments on whether uses of force transgress a limit that should be defended. These judgments become focal points in the collaboration and coordination dilemmas states face in enforcing limits to U.S. power while preserving mutually beneficial cooperation. The implications for the Council's legitimacy and theories of international legitimacy are discussed.

Global governance and public accountability

Abstract: Notes on Contributors. 1. Introduction: David Held and Mathias Koenig--Archibugi. 2. Defining Accountability Up: the Global Economic Multilaterals: Miles Kahler. 3. Disaggregated Sovereignty: Towards the Public Accountability of Global Government Networks: Anne--Marie Slaughter. 4. Multisectoral Networks in Global Governance: Towards a Pluralistic System of Accountability: Thorsten Benner, Wolfgang H. Reinicke and Jan Martin Witte. 5. Civil Society and Democratically Accountable Global Governance: Jan Aart Scholte. 6. Transnational Corporations and Public Accountability: Mathias Koenig--Archibugi. 7. Global Governance and Legitimacy Problems: Michael Zurn. 8. Global Governance and Communicative Action: Thomas Risse. 9. Global Governance, Participation and the Public Sphere: Patrizia Nanz and Jens Steffek. 10. Is there a a Democratic Deficita in World Politics? A Framework for Analysis: Andrew Moravcsik. 11. Democratic Accountability and Political Effectiveness from a Cosmopolitan Perspective: David Held. Index.

Why Do People Accept Public Policies They Oppose? Testing Legitimacy Theory with a Survey-Based Experiment

Abstract: The orthodox answer to the question posed in the title of this article is that the legitimacy of institutions has something to do with acquiescence to unwelcome public policy decisions. We investigate that conventional wisdom using an experiment embedded within a representative national sample in the United States. We test hypotheses concerning not only the effect of institutional legitimacy on acquiescence, but also the influence of partisanship, the rule of law, and simple instrumentalism on willingness to accept an objectionable policy decision. Our analyses reveal that legitimacy does matter for acquiescence, and that the Supreme Court is more effective at converting its legitimacy into acceptance than is Congress. Yet, many important puzzles emerge from the data (e.g., partisanship is not influential), so we conclude that Legitimacy Theory still requires much additional empirical inquiry.

Customer disclosures, impression management and the construction of legitimacy: Corporate reports in the UK privatised water industry

Abstract: – This paper aims to explore how organizations use annual reporting for legitimacy purposes in the context of the ten recently privatised regional water companies in the UK. Although privatization required the water plcs to establish a distinctly different organizational legitimacy for themselves as customer‐focused companies commensurate with their new private sector status, it was clear from the nature of their privatization that they would experience difficulties in achieving this. Privatization did little to change their previous monopoly character, and this created discrepancy with the model of private sector companies operating in customer‐led competitive markets., – The paper uses a content analysis of statements concerning customer service in annual reports. The analysis examines the variety of ways in which the ten water plcs deployed both assertive and defensive impression management techniques in their attempts to gain, maintain and repair their legitimacy as customer‐focused companies., – The analysis emphasises the importance of the role of corporate reporting as a resource in legitimacy management. The paper also argues that, despite sustained efforts, the water plcs did not wholly succeed in persuading all their customers that the privatization of water was “a good thing”., – The paper will be valuable to researchers and practitioners alike, as it attempts to take further one's understanding of how organizations use corporate reporting for legitimacy purposes by examining a much more extreme case of the legitimacy problem than has been previously considered in the literature: namely, the need for an entirely new basis for corporate legitimacy.

Legitimating Agencies in the Face of Selection: The Case of AACSB

Abstract: This article proposes that legitimating agencies such as accreditation organizations face selection pressures to both maintain their legitimacy among their constituents, but also to expand the domain of their activities. We argue that domain expansion raises three important research questions: first, the factors that lead legitimating agencies to expand their domain; second, the need to maintain legitimacy among existing constituents; and third, the establishment of legitimacy in the new domain. We use the domain expansion of the AACSB to develop propositions relevant to these three research issues. Quality concerns, process vs. content strategy, and institutional entrepreneurship are the main factors that impact the legitimation of legitimating agencies.

Ranking the adaptive capacity of nations to climate change when socio-political goals are explicit

Abstract: The typical categories for measuring national adaptive capacity to climate change include a nation's wealth, technology, education, information, skills, infrastructure, access to resources, and management capabilities. Resulting rankings predictably mirror more general rankings of economic development, such as the Human Development Index. This approach is incomplete since it does not consider the normative or motivational context of adaptation. For what purpose or toward what goal does a nation aspire, and in that context, what is its adaptive capacity? This paper posits 11 possible national socio-political goals that fall into the three categories of teleological legitimacy, procedural legitimacy, and norm-based decision rules. A model that sorts nations in terms of adaptive capacity based on national socio-political aspirations is presented. While the aspiration of maximizing summed utility matches typical existing rankings, alternative aspirations, including contractarian liberalism, technocratic management, and dictatorial/religious rule alter the rankings. An example describes how this research can potentially inform how priorities are set for international assistance for climate change adaptation.

Initiating and Eliciting in Teaching: A Reformulation of Telling

Abstract: We address the telling/not-telling dilemma in mathematics education Telling is instructionally important, but has been downplayed because of (a) perceived inconsistencies between telling and constructivism, (b) increased awareness of the negative consequences of relying too heavily on telling, and (c) a focus on "non-telling" actions as pedagogical implications of constructivism In response, we advance a theoretical reformulation of telling as the set of teaching actions that serve the function of stimulating students' mathematical thoughts via the introduction of new ideas into a classroom conversation We reformulate telling in three ways: (a) in terms of the function (which involves attention to the teacher's intention, the nature of the teaching action, and the students' interpretations of the action) rather than theform of teachers' communicative acts; (b) in terms of the conceptual rather than procedural content of the new information; and (c) in terms of its relationship to other actions rather than as an isolated action This reformulation resolves some of the concerns with teaching as telling and helps establish the legitimacy of providing new information within a constructivist perspective on learning

The Political Origins of the UN Security Council's Ability to Legitimize the Use of Force

Abstract: Since, at least, the Persian Gulf War, states have behaved “as if” it is costly to be unsuccessful in acquiring the legitimacy the UN Security Council confers on uses of force. This observation is puzzling for theories that seek the origins of modern institutional legitimacy in legalities or moral values. I argue that when governments and citizens look for an authority to legitimize the use of force, they generally do not seek an independent judgment on the appropriateness of an intervention but political reassurance about the consequences of proposed military adventures. Council decisions legitimize or delegitimize uses of force in the sense that they form widely accepted political judgments on whether uses of force transgress a limit that should be defended. These judgments become focal points in the collaboration and coordination dilemmas states face in enforcing limits to U.S. power while preserving mutually beneficial cooperation. In this article, I discuss the implications for the Council's legitimacy and theories of international legitimacy.Earlier versions of this article were presented at the 2003 International Studies Association Conference, Portland, Ore., 1 March; the 2003 Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, 29 August; Columbia University International Politics Series, New York, 29 September 2003; and the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University, Cambridge, 6 October 2003. I thank the participants in these seminars, the editor, and anonymous referees of International Organization; and I also thank Bob Axelrod, Bruce Cronin, Michael Dark, Monica Duffy Toft, Nisha Fazal, Jim Fearon, Martha Finnemore, Page Fortna, Stacy Goddard, Macartan Humphries, Ian Hurd, Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, Andrew Kydd, Edward Miller, Katia Papagianni, Rita Parhad, Holger Schmidt, Arturo Sotomayor, and Joel Westra for useful comments, suggestions, and corrections. As usual, remaining errors are the sole responsibility of the author.

Disagreement, asymmetry, and liberal legitimacy

Abstract: Reasonable people disagree deeply about the nature of the good life. But reasonable people also disagree fundamentally about principles of justice. If this is true, then why does political liberali...

Complex sovereignty : reconstituting political authority in the twenty-first century

Abstract: 1 Reconstituting Political Authority: Sovereignty, Effectiveness, and Legitimacy in a Transnational Order Louis W. Pauly and Edgar Grande 2 World Risk Society and the Changing Foundations of Transnational Politics Ulrich Beck 3 Restructuring World Society: The Contribution of Modern Systems Theory Mathias Albert 4 Governance: A Garbage Can Perspective B. Guy Peters 5 Globality and Transnational Policymaking in Agriculture: Complexity, Contradiction, and Conflict William D. Coleman 6 Financial Crises, the United Nations, and Transnational Authority Louis W. Pauly 7 Reconstituting Political Authority in Europe: Transnational Regulatory Networks and the Informalization of Governance in the European Union Burkard Eberlein and Edgar Grande 8 The Primitive Realities of North America's Transnational Governance Stephen Clarkson with Sarah Davidson Ladly, Megan Merwart, and Carlton Thorne 9 Public-Private Partnerships: Effective and Legitimate Tools of Transnational Governance? Tanja A. Borzel and Thomas Risse 10 The Private Production of Public Goods: Private and Public Norms in Global Governance Tony Porter 11 Contested Political Authority, Risk Society, and the Transatlantic Divide in the Regulation of Genetic Engineering Grace Skogstad 12 The Informalization of Transnational Governance: A Threat to Democratic Government Michael Th. Greven 13 Complex Sovereignty and the Emergence of Transnational Authority Edgar Grande and Louis W. Pauly References Contributors Index

New Urbanism and Smart Growth: A Few Words from the Academy

Abstract: Concerns about urban sprawl are not new. In a 1958 essay titled "Urban Sprawl" that appeared in Fortune, William Whyte warned Americans that their penchant for using five acres to do the work of one was not only "bad aesthetics" but "bad eco- nomics." In the ensuing years, the movement to contain or mitigate sprawl has grown in fits and starts following cycles loosely correlated with the economy and government administrations. Often, as momentum renews, the battle cries change. Those who once advocated growth control later called for growth management, smart growth, new urbanism, and sustainable development. This issue of the Review contains articles that address two interrelated perspectives on mitigating sprawl: smart growth and new urbanism. While smart growth and new urbanism share much with similar movements of the past and perhaps the future, both have attained a level of legitimacy and currency that warrant new serious scholarly examination of their premises and implications. SMART GROWTH According to the Environmental Protection Agency (2004), smart growth is "development that serves the economy, the community, and the environment .I t changes the terms of the development debate away from the traditional growth/no growth question to how and where should new development be accommodated." Toward this end, the U.S. EPA established in 1996, and continues to fund, a net- work of advocacy organizations dedicated to smart growth principles. Thanks in large to this network, smart growth is now part of the lexicon of planners, policy makers, and almost everyone with interest in urban and regional development. Though the origins of the term are unclear, the rapid ascendance of smart growth can be traced to three key projects (Burchell, Listokin, and Galley 2000). In the