Showing papers on "Legitimacy published in 2023"

An assessment of the scientific merits of action research

Abstract: This article describes the deficiencies of positivist science for generating knowledge for use in solving problems that members of organizations face. Action research is introduced as a method for correcting these deficiencies. When action research is tested against the criteria of positivist science, action research is found not to meet its critical tests. The appropriateness of positivist science is questioned as a basis for judging the scientific merits of action research. Action research can base its legitimacy as science in philosophical traditions that are different from those which legitimate positivist science. Criteria and methods of science appropriate to action research are offered.

Stakeholder legitimacy in firm greening and financial performance: What about greenwashing temptations?☆

Abstract: Stakeholder activism is putting increasing pressure on firms to engage in greening conduct to enhance ESG performance and financial performance. Stakeholders have expectations about the legitimacy of firms’ ESG conduct and ESG performance as they relate to financial performance. Using legitimacy theory, we first examine two compelling questions: (1) What legitimate firm practices support ESG performance? and (2) Does ESG performance directly lead to firm financial performance? As firms redefine their aims and pivot to ESG conduct, stakeholders are becoming increasingly concerned about the rising incidence of greenwashing. We examine two additional questions: (3) Is there a link between ESG performance and greenwashing? and (4) How does greenwashing affect firm financial performance? We find that stakeholder legitimacy is an antecedent to ESG performance and financial performance. Furthermore, firms with low ESG performance are more likely to greenwash than firms with high ESG performance, though greenwashing does not affect financial performance.

The regulatory security state in Europe

Abstract: ABSTRACT The ‘regulatory state’ has prevailed in almost every sector of European public policy. The provision of security, however, is still widely viewed as the domain of the ‘positive state’, which rests on political authority and autonomous capacities. Challenging this presumption, we argue that expertise – as foundation of authority – and rules – as policy instruments – also shape the provision of European security by national and, in particular, supranational ‘regulatory security states’, namely the European Union (EU). We lay out a framework for mapping the uneven and contested rise of European regulatory security states; analyzing drivers and constraints of security state reforms; and grasping the implications of the regulatory security state for the effectiveness and democratic legitimacy of European security policy-making. We advance the research program on the regulatory state and contribute to an innovative understanding of who governs security in Europe’s multi-level polity, by what means, and on what legitimatory grounds.

Crafting Prefigurative Law in Turbulent Times: Decertification, DIY Law Reform, and the Dilemmas of Feminist Prototyping

Abstract: Abstract This article explores the challenge of developing a feminist law reform proposal to decertify sex and gender based on research conducted for the ‘Future of Legal Gender' project. Locating the proposal to decertify within a do-it-yourself, prefigurative approach to law reform, the article asks: Can a law reform proposal be both instrumental and radical? Can a proposal take shape as a viable legislative text and as a more subversive intervention to unsettle and reimagine gender’s relationship to law? This article explores this at two levels. First, it considers the ontological challenges of developing a controversial law reform proposal in terms of its realness (or fictiveness), contours, and temporality, turning to ‘slow law' as a credible way of approaching radical reform. Second, it explores the design-based challenges of legal prototyping—foregrounding questions of legitimacy, participation, and purpose, which arise in designing a decertification law. At the heart of this discussion is the relationship between representation and enactment—between what a proposal presents and what its presentation does and does not accomplish.

Scandinavian experiments in democratic education

Abstract: This article is the first of four articles exploring democratic schools co-founded by teenage students in Norway and Sweden. Our larger project explores the relationship between democracy in education and educational dialogism. Both democracy in education and educational dialogism are partially rooted in the idea that education should be a personal meaning-making practice where the participants can create and organize their lives in ways that make sense to them and explore their interests, values, and desires. We describe the processes of founding two schools – one in Oslo, Norway, and the other in Gothenburg, Sweden – in which students practiced the right to democratic governance. We describe the process of the founding of these schools against the background of the students’ movements in the late 1960s and the 1970s and the social and political conditions in Norway and Sweden at that time. We explore the students’ perspectives on the possibility, desirability, and legitimacy of the students’ voices in ethical-ontological dialogues in which the participants jointly examine their relationships with the world, with others, and with themselves. Further, we explore the forms of democratic school governance that Norwegian and Swedish students created and identified tensions that appeared between the legitimacy of individual students’ rights to ownership of their learning, teachers’ ownership of teaching, and the conventional normative educational policies in Norway and Sweden.

Populist attitudes towards politics and science: how do they differ?

Abstract: While populist citizens’ opposition to political elites has been intensively researched, populist criticism of other societal institutions, such as science, has only recently attracted public and scholarly attention. Political and science populism can both be understood as a set of ideas that revolve around an antagonism between a virtuous common people and an evil elite. However, political populism focuses on political power claims and challenges the political elites, whereas science populism addresses truth claims and criticizes the academic elites. Hence, conceptually, both populism variants pit the people against an elite – but they rely on different conceptualizations of the people and the elites, their authority claims, and the alleged (il)legitimacy of these claims. Yet, it remains unclear how distinct these two populism variants are empirically. We address this gap by comparing established scales for measuring individual attitudes towards both variants and provide three take aways: We recommend that scholars should (1) theorize and test the overlaps of the two populism variants, (2) acknowledge their differences and model these accordingly, and (3) consider which variant is better suited for predicting other attitudes or behaviours. Considering these takeaways would allow public opinion research to provide more fine-grained insights into the intricacies of populist attitudes within contemporary societies and challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the European Union: politics, policies and institutions

Abstract: ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges to the European Union (EU) and its member states. In the EU, health policy competence has been and remains largely with member states. However, faced with a major external crisis, which more or less affected all member states at the same time, the EU developed a framework within which the member states (and their subnational units) could respond together to the crisis. This introductory article to the Special Issue ‘The COVID-19 Pandemic and the European Union,’ briefly examines how EU institutions, policies and politics were affected by the crisis. Contrary to earlier crises, the EU responded speedily and effectively this time around. The EU has become increasingly important in crisis management, in part due to the nature of transboundary crises. The EU proved itself to be a good crisis manager on some dimensions, but certainly not on all. The crisis created momentum for collective action and for fast decision-making, even though the legitimacy of some these actions has been subject to limited public scrutiny.

Conspiracy Theories and Democratic Legitimacy

Abstract: ABSTRACT Conspiracy theories are frequently described as a threat to democracy and conspiracy theorists portrayed as epistemically or morally unreasonable. If these characterizations are correct, then it may be the case that reasons stemming from conspiracy theorizing threaten the legitimizing function of democratic deliberation. In this paper, I will argue the opposite. Despite the extraordinary epistemic and morally unreasonable claims made by some conspiracy theorists, belief in conspiracy theories is guided by internal epistemic norms inherent in believing. By utilizing the insights of the Peircean epistemic defense formulated by Cheryl Misak and Robert Talisse, I take it that these epistemic norms implicitly commit the theorist to an open democratic society.

How and why accelerators enhance female entrepreneurship

Abstract: This study was driven by an initial finding that female founders' participation rate in Israeli accelerators is significantly higher (15.3 %) than their participation rate in the. Israeli startup sector (7.4 %). Linking accelerators' design to the known barriers to female entrepreneurship, we examined how accelerators may enhance female entrepreneurship by addressing their specific needs. Based on a dataset (N = 779) of structured interviews with startup founders who participated in accelerator programs in Israel during 2011–2019, we present evidence that female founders seek and gain more entrepreneurial knowledge, network building, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy during their participation in accelerators than do male founders. Female founders also seek to increase their legitimacy more than do their male counterparts but did not report making more progress in this aspect. Finally, both the goal of and progress in obtaining access to capital and improving fundraising skills received lower ratings from female founders than from male founders. We further ask whether accelerators are more helpful for women because they are better adapted to the female gender or because they are generally better adapted to founders with those background conditions that often characterize women. We found that the startup's stage of development and the founder's prior entrepreneurial experience mediated most gender differences, supporting the latter possibility. We discuss the implications of our findings for accelerators and other support programs as a means of increasing women's participation rates in innovative entrepreneurship.

How can Stakeholder Capitalism contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals? A Cross-network Literature Analysis

Abstract: Our research explores how Stakeholder Capitalism can contribute to global governance to achieve all the 17 SDGs. We performed a mixed study through research synthesis, categorization, and network analysis. The main findings revealed that Stakeholder Capitalism and its principles are favorable to foster a friendly environment for achieving most of the SDGs and can contribute to global governance in achieving mainly the SDGs 8, 9, and 17. However, Stakeholder Capitalism literature is incipient for the SDGs 6, 14, and 15, needing further research development by considering non-human stakeholders and the environment. Findings also revealed that Stakeholder Capitalism could promote partnerships and consensus worldwide and be an optimal source for promoting decent work, economic growth, innovation, infrastructure development, and industrial dynamism in a sustainable manner. We also discussed how the primary constructs of Stakeholder Theory related to Stakeholder Capitalism could contribute to achieving the SDGs: stakeholder construct, stakeholder salience (power, urgency, legitimacy, and proximity), corporate social responsibility, and value creation. Furthermore, we proposed a novel comprehensive methodology helpful in analyzing literature and categorical variables by enhancing the explanatory power of results through research synthesis, categorization, exploratory data analysis, degree centrality, and cross-network visualization. Finally, we suggested an agenda for future studies.

Misperceptions and Minipublics: Does Endorsement of Expert Information by a Minipublic Influence Misperceptions in the Wider Public?

Abstract: As misperceptions undermine the factual basis for public debate, they pose a serious challenge to expert knowledge and the democratic legitimacy of public policy informed by expert evidence. In this paper, we theorize that in times of politicization and polarization of expertise, endorsement of expert information by a minipublic can serve to legitimize expert correction and render it more persuasive in the eyes of individuals. In developing our theoretical argument, we focus on the effect of a minipublic on individuals in the wider public – those who did not participate in such institutions. To test our theoretical predictions, we designed, pre-registered and fielded two experiments in the US (N = 2168) and one experiment in Ireland (N = 1125), during two different waves of COVID-19. The results show that minipublic endorsement significantly increases the uptake of expert information among (nonparticipating) citizens. Furthermore, when an expert correction explicitly asserts a scientific consensus, it is as effective as the minipublic endorsement. The findings have implications for the research on misperceptions, expertise and deliberative institutions.

The political construction of the ‘citizen turn’ in the EU: disintermediation and depoliticisation in the Conference on the Future of Europe

Abstract: The EU has recently organised a series of ‘citizen-centred’ processes that may be indicative of a new pattern in terms of democracy and participation. The article begins with this observation in order to pose the following question: to what extent the introduction of ‘citizen participation’ mechanisms in the Conference on the Future of Europe reflects a rupture with the EU’s dominant understanding of democracy? While there are innovative elements in the Conference, which are described in detail, the article develops a normative critique of the underlying philosophy with which it was organised and constructed, as it followed an alternative legitimacy logic that fundamentally deviates from an agonistic public sphere perspective. The Conference illustrates a ‘citizen turn’ that breaks away from the ‘participatory turn’ described by Saurugger (2010) in that it decouples ‘citizen participation’ from civil society and the idea of a European public sphere, both in discursive terms as well as in the ensuing political practices. The article concludes with a wider conceptualisation of what the ‘citizen turn’ means for EU democracy, and why the disintermediation of European politics is coherent with the preexistent depoliticised EU political dynamics, conceived in the case of the Conference as ‘democracy without politics’.

Legitimacy Politics

Abstract: Once staunch advocates of international cooperation, political elites are increasingly divided over the merits of global governance. Populist leaders attack international organizations for undermining national democracy, while mainstream politicians defend their importance for solving transboundary problems. Bridging international relations, comparative politics, and cognitive psychology, Lisa Dellmuth and Jonas Tallberg explore whether, when, and why elite communication shapes the popular legitimacy of international organizations. Based on novel theory, experimental methods, and comparative evidence, they show that elites are influential in shaping how citizens perceive global governance and explain why some elites and messages are more effective than others. The book offers fresh insights into major issues of our day, such as the rise of populism, the power of communication, the backlash against global governance, and the relationship between citizens and elites. It will be of interest to scholars and students of international organisations, and experimental and survey research methods.

Institutional enablers of electric vehicle market: Evidence from 30 countries

Abstract: Electric vehicles (EVs) have emerged as a sustainable option for maintaining ecological balance. Extant literature identified a limited set of enablers of EV sales and mostly considered single-country contexts. Interestingly, prior studies rarely employed the lens of institutional theory to probe EV sales. Hence, our study explored how legitimacy concerns, due to societal expectations, are associated with the EV market in a cross-country context. We hypothesized the relationships between institutional pillars, such as technological, business, cognitive pillars, and EV sales. To test our proposed hypotheses, we considered secondary data from 30 countries from 2011 to 2020. We employed panel-corrected standard error multivariate regression analysis to control heteroscedasticity, cross-panel correlation, and autocorrelation. Empirical evidence suggested that legitimacy-induced institutional isomorphism was positively associated with the EV market. Our study aids policymakers in envisaging a sustainable EV ecosystem.

Equity crowdfunding for university spin-offs: Unveiling the motivations, benefits, and risks related to its adoption

Abstract: Equity crowdfunding (ECF) has spread rapidly worldwide, however its use by university spin-offs (USOs) along with scholarly attention to it, is still extremely limited. In this qualitative study, we examine the views of founders of the few USOs that have used ECF in the Italian market and unveil their motivation for bypassing traditional funding models and the related benefits and risks. USOs have mixed motivations in pursuing ECF (testing the market, involving new people, overcoming limited public/private supports or funds, attractiveness to traditional investors, risky forecasts); at the same time there are significant benefits (crowd participation, strategic resources, legitimacy for the valorization/exploitation of research results and knowledge transfer mechanisms) and underlying risks (management of investors and their lack of scientific culture, data use, bureaucracy, uncertainty related to outputs/technologies). This study contributes to the literature on crowdfunding and USOs and has implications for the strategic decisions of founders, universities, policymakers, governments.

Understanding the bioeconomy through its instruments: standardizing sustainability, neoliberalizing bioeconomies?

Abstract: Sustainability standards have been one of the hopefuls for decades when it comes to ensuring the sustainability of biomass for the bioeconomy, especially in the wake of their evolvement from voluntary, non-governmental to hybrid, public-private governance instruments in recent years. In addition to doubts regarding their legitimacy and effectiveness, however, they have also been associated with a neoliberalization of nature that integrates natural resources into a free market logic. Drawing on a conceptual framework that builds on political ecology and the political sociology of policy instruments, this paper challenges this notion. To this end, it examines sustainability standards in three countries/regions particularly prominent for the bioeconomy-the EU, Brazil, and Indonesia-to illustrate how these can be differentiated in terms of their neoliberal orientation, and what can be inferred from this for the orientation and state of the respective bioeconomies. The results show that the introduction of sustainability standards is not necessarily accompanied by a neoliberalization of nature. Rather, it is shown that the standards and their specific designs-and thus also their intrinsic understanding of sustainability as integration-are primarily intended to serve the material interests of the state and the respective industrial factions, for which neoliberal configurations are sometimes seen as rather obstructive, sometimes as rather useful. The sustainability standards, and thus the bioeconomies for which they stand, therefore, rather serve as instruments to stay on the path of modernization and industrial development already taken or envisaged, or, put differently, as strategies to avoid social-ecological transformation.

The varying effect of court-curbing: evidence from Hungary and Poland

Abstract: With the rise of populism, we frequently witness how elected governments try to limit judicial power by using different means. Comparing the court-curbing policies used by the Fidesz government in Hungary and the PiS government in Poland, this study has two objectives. First, it aims to explain whether different court-curbing policies effect judicial independence differently. Using synthetic control method, I find that the predominant use of informal court-curbing policies erodes judicial independence much more extensively compared to the predominant use of formal court-curbing policies. The second objective is to provide and empirically test the causal explanation for this effect. I argue that when the incumbent tries to weaken the judiciary mostly through informal court-curbing, this might instigate public discontent and jeopardize the judiciary's legitimacy in the short run. However, when the government tries to restructure the judiciary via constitutional reforms, the legitimacy of the ‘new’ judicial system might not be questioned by the public. Supporting these hypotheses, the empirical results show that while the court-curbing attempts of the PiS government reduced public confidence in the judiciary by almost 15 percent, we do not see a significant decline in the Hungarian case where mostly formal court-curbing was used.

Juridical Review Concerning the Legitimacy of Cryptocurrency in Islamic Law

Abstract: Cryptocurrency has become a significant phenomenon in the global financial world. However, within the context of Islamic law, questions regarding the validity and regulation of cryptocurrency remain a complex debate. This research aims to conduct a normative juridical analysis of cryptocurrency regulation in Islamic law, with a focus on a case study in Indonesia. The research method employed is a normative juridical approach, involving the collection and analysis of legal data from relevant sources, such as laws, regulations, and religious fatwas. This legal data is then analyzed using legal arguments and theoretical frameworks to understand and explain the legal status of cryptocurrency within Islam. This study identifies key issues that arise in the regulation of cryptocurrency in Islamic law in Indonesia, including riba (interest), gharar (uncertainty), maysir (gambling), and consumer protection. Through this normative juridical analysis, the researcher explores existing legal interpretations, relevant legal documents, and the perspectives of Islamic scholars and experts regarding the validity and permissibility of cryptocurrency. The findings of this research provide an in-depth understanding of how cryptocurrency can be categorized within the framework of Islamic law, as well as the legal implications arising from the use and trading of cryptocurrency. Additionally, this study identifies gaps and challenges in the regulation of cryptocurrency in Islamic law in Indonesia and provides recommendations for the development of more effective regulations that align with Islamic principles.

Influences on policy-formulation, decision-making, organisation and management for maternal, newborn and child health in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda: the roles and legitimacy of a multi-country network

Abstract: The Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (QCN) is intended to facilitate learning, action, leadership and accountability for improving quality of care in member countries. This requires legitimacy--a networks right to exert power within national contexts. This is reflected, for example, in a governments buy-in and perceived ownership of the work of the network. During 2019- 2022 we conducted iterative rounds of stakeholder interviews, observations of meetings, document review, and hospital observations in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda and at the global level. We developed a framework drawing on three frameworks: Tallberg and Zurn which conceptualizes legitimacy of international organisations dependent on their features, the legitimation process and beliefs of audiences; Nasiritousi and Faber, which looks at legitimacy in terms of problem, purpose, procedure, and performance of institutions; Sanderink and Nasiritousi, to characterize networks in terms of political, normative and cognitive interactions. We used thematic analysis to characterize, compare and contrast institutional interactions in a cross-case synthesis to determine salient features. Political and normative interactions were favourable within and between countries and at global level since collective decisions, collaborative efforts, and commitment to QCN goals were observed at all levels. Sharing resources and common principles were not common between network countries, indicating limits of the network. Cognitive interactions--those related to information sharing and transfer of ideas-- were more challenging, with the bi-directional transfer, synthesis and harmonization of concepts and methods, being largely absent among and within countries. These may be required for increasing government ownership of QCN work, the embeddedness of the network, and its legitimacy. While we find evidence supporting the legitimacy of QCN from the perspective of country governments, further work and time are required for governments to own and embed the work of QCN in routine care.

A New Defense of Brain Death as the Death of the Human Organism.

Abstract: This paper provides a new rationale for equating brain death with the death of the human organism, in light of well-known criticisms made by Alan D Shewmon, Franklin Miller and Robert Truog and a number of other writers. We claim that these criticisms can be answered, but only if we accept that we have slightly redefined the concept of death when equating brain death with death simpliciter. Accordingly, much of the paper defends the legitimacy of redefining death against objections, before turning to the specific task of defending a new rationale for equating brain death with death as slightly redefined.

The diffusion of the sustainable development goals (SDGs): an examination of preparer perceptions

Abstract: Purpose This paper aims to analyse the adoption of sustainable development goals (SDGs) disclosure via the lens of the diffusion of innovations theory, legitimacy theory and the theory of planned behaviour and presents insights into perceptions held by preparers on their decision to adopt or reject SDG disclosure. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a mixed-methods approach, combining content and statistical analysis as well as interviews, to examine SDG disclosure and preparer perceptions. Findings The analysis reveals low, but growing SDG disclosure. Although SDG disclosure is perceived as relatively advantageous for a variety of reasons, perceptions of incompatibility and complexity may limit diffusion of SDG disclosure. Trialability and observability of SDG disclosure, on the other hand, may support or hinder the decision to adopt or reject SDG disclosure. Research limitations/implications Findings generated may not be generalisable across all populations. A smaller sample of companies were interviewed. Practical implications This paper offers insight into attitudes which must be altered if greater diffusion of SDG disclosure is to be achieved by the United Nations 2030 deadline. Social implications Sustainability reporting (SR) has a pivotal role to play in supporting the achievement of the SDGs, and innovations in accounting and reporting are particularly needed. This paper raises issues that should be considered by both preparers and practitioners, if innovations are to succeed. Originality/value This paper contributes the application of an underutilised theoretical framework in SR research, the first longitudinal analysis of the diffusion of SDG disclosure to provide evidence of adoption over time and an extension of similar studies on diffusion of reporting innovations.

Bimodal lobbying and trade policy outcomes: Evidence from corporate political activity under uncertainty in India

Abstract: We lack insight into how firms reduce uncertainty by engaging with trade policy through corporate political activity (CPA), particularly in emerging economies. In this paper, we argue that CPA, as an instrument of nonmarket strategy, is more effective in achieving trade policy outcomes that reduce corporate uncertainty when firms pursue a bimodal approach, lobbying both collectively and individually. Collective actors such as trade associations gain influence through industry legitimacy and expertise, and can enable individual corporate lobbying to benefit from enhanced political capabilities in terms of information gathering, developing legitimacy, and aligning divergent interests. We also find that the bimodal approach is more effective for exporting firms, and when there is government support for an industry. Our empirical analysis is based on survey data of 146 Indian firms, in the context of a changing socio-political era. We contribute to the literature by highlighting the complementarity between collective and private political lobbying in reducing trade policy uncertainty. Overall, we contribute to research on CPA and nonmarket strategy, particularly in the context of emerging economy trade policy.