Legitimacy

About: Legitimacy is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 26153 publications have been published within this topic receiving 565921 citations.

Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships for Sustainable Development: Rethinking Legitimacy, Accountability and Effectiveness

Abstract: The role of transnational partnerships in contemporary global environmental discourse raises larger questions of the legitimacy, effectiveness and accountability of networked governance. This article advances a conceptual framework for evaluating the legitimacy of partnership networks. Furthermore, it examines, in particular, the multi-stakeholder partnerships for sustainable development announced at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg 2002. Partnership networks have been branded as a new form of global governance with the potential to bridge multilateral norms and local action by drawing on a diverse number of actors in civil society, government and business. Does the rise of global partnerships imply a re-location and diffusion of authority from government to public–private ‘implementation networks’? Recent evaluations of the Johannesburg partnerships suggest that they can gain from a clearer linkage to existing institutions and multilateral agreements, measurable targets and timetables, more effective leadership, improved accountability, systematic review, reporting and monitoring mechanisms. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

A Public Role for the Private Sector: Industry Self-Regulation in a Global Economy

Abstract: Increasing economic competition combined with the powerful threat of transnational activism are pushing firms to develop new political strategies. Over the past decade a growing number of corporations have adopted policies of industry self-regulation --corporate codes of conduct, social and environmental standards, and auditing and monitoring systems. A Public Role for the Private Sector explores the phenomenon of industry self-regulation through three different cases --environment, labor, and information privacy --where corporate leaders appear to be converging on industry self-regulation as the appropriate response to competing pressures. Political and economic risks, reputational effects, and learning within the business community all influence the adoption of a self-regulatory strategy, but there are wide variations in the strength and character of it across industries and issue areas. Industry self-regulation raises significant questions about the place of the private sector in regulation and governance, and the accountability, legitimacy and power of industry at a time of rapid globalization.

Beyond the Square Wheel: Toward a More Comprehensive Understanding of Biodiversity Conservation as Social and Political Process

Abstract: In this article we build on an accompanying critique of recent writings in international biodiversity conservation (this issue). Many scholars and observers are calling for stricter enforcement of protected area boundaries given the perceived failure of integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) and other people-oriented approaches to safeguard biodiversity. Pointing to many ongoing, field-based efforts, we argue that this resurgent focus on authoritarian protection practices largely overlooks key aspects of social and political process including clarification of moral standpoint, legitimacy, governance, accountability, learning, and nonlocal forces. Following a discussion of these six points, we offer a series of recommendations aimed at highlighting existing work and encouraging dialogue and constructive debate on the ways in which biodiversity protection interventions are carried out in developing countries.

The Case for Marriage: Why Married People Are Happier, Healthier, and Better off Financially

Abstract: The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off Financially. Linda J. Waite & Maggie Gallagher. New York: Doubleday. 2000. 260 pp. ISBN 0-38550085-8. $24.95 cloth. Marriage, our second oldest institution, has been controversial during most of its existence. In The Bankruptcy of Marriage, Calverton (1928) observed, "It is marriage as we know it... the marriage of modern monogamy, of the bindingcontract variety, our system of marriage, in other words, that has broken down, and to-day is bankrupt" (p. 62). Given its age and its undisputed importance, marriage has long been challenged and defended. The Case for Marriage offers a spirited and well-documented but flawed example of such a defense. First, its use of language is far from neutral. Its tone oozes with disrespect for those who deviate from lifelong marriage. Marriage throughout the text is referred to as a "bargain," a superior investment benefiting both those who participate and society at large. Cohabitation, on the other hand, is a "deal," something one picks up at a flea market. Cohabiting partners, regardless of their age, are referred to as "live-in" boy- or girlfriends and are described as "couples living together without commitment" (p. 190). Adult singles are treated as a residual category. As constructionists remind us, the use of language is not just a descriptive but a creative and frequently assertive activity. My second concern is conceptual. Marriage institutionalizes the legitimacy of offspring in human societies. Children born in it, regardless of its form, are considered "legitimate" and belong to a kinship network. The marriage institution, then, has a clear stake in its procreative consequences, as is exemplified by its sole universal rule, the "incest taboo." Its main "enemy" is promiscuous reproduction. Its "allies" are those other forms of "living together" that, regardless of their duration, counter random mating. "Family," the oldest human institution, traditionally is responsible for "caring" for the very young, and nowadays also for the aged. It seems impossible to imagine humanity's pilgrimage without these two institutions. It is quite possible, however, to imagine each one taking on a variety of forms. The core units of the marriage and family institutions are, respectively, married couples and family networks. The bulk of Waite's and Gallagher's book is not about the institutions of marriage and family, but rather about individuals who choose to participate in marital and familial units. They conceptualize marriage as more than a "private emotional relationship" and specify a "lifelong commitment to form a new family" (p. 187) as its raison d'etre. They use the words marriage and family interchangeably. This is confusing. For example, are voluntarily childless married couples to be considered deviants? Uncommitted? What about one-parent families? Are they a different legitimate family form or, as the authors seem to imply, simply an outcome of unwed motherhood, marital failure, or early spousal death? I agree with the authors that marriage's "larger public role must be acknowledged and supported by the larger society and its institutions" (p. 187). All social arrangements, whether sacred or profane, to use Durkheim's terminology, that combat reproductive promiscuity or inadequate family care deserve support from "society and its institutions." The authors' treatment of cohabitation is equally troublesome to me. Analytically, cohabitation, in its many manifestations, should not be contrasted or compared with marriage but rather with the equally diverse category of singlehood. I have no problem with the multitude of quantitative data amassed by the authors to show that enduring marriages and families, on the average, offer some distinct advantages over cohabitation. …

Why do People Comply with the Law? Legitimacy and the Influence of Legal Institutions

Abstract: This paper extends Tyler's procedural justice model of public compliance with the law. Analysing data from a national probability sample of adults in England and Wales, we present a new con- ceptualization of legitimacy based on not just the recognition of power, but also the justification of power. We find that people accept the police's right to dictate appropriate behaviour not only when they feel a duty to obey officers, but also when they believe that the institution acts according to a shared moral purpose with citizens. Highlighting a number of different routes by which institu- tions can influence citizen behaviour, our broader normative model provides a better framework for explaining why people are willing to comply with the law.