Legitimacy

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

Partnership and the Limits to Local Governance in England: Institutionalist Analysis and Neoliberalism

Abstract: There is much debate about the shift from a pattern of traditional local government to one of local governance, and about the impact of such a tendency on the effectiveness of governance processes and outcomes. This article argues that it is necessary in exploring such issues to bring together contributions informed by new institutionalist perspectives with others concerned with the political economy of neoliberalism. Partnerships are widely seen to be a significant element in the shift from government to governance, and the article focuses on the role of partnerships at both local (ie local authority) and neighbourhood level. Key questions about 'local partnership governance' concern its democratic legitimacy and the capacity of its institutions. Drawing on the examples of local strategic partnerships and the New Deal for Communities programme in England, it is recognized that such partnerships can appear to open up new approaches to legitimacy and new possibilities of enhancing the capacity of the local governance system. In fact, however, they are more likely to undermine democracy and accountability, and lack the capacity to be effective, while limiting local policy options to those consistent with New Labour's neoliberal policy agenda.

Making States Work: State Failure and the Crisis of Governance (Introduction & Conclusion)

Abstract: In the wealth of literature on state failure, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the question of what constitutes state success and what enables a state to succeed. This book - a joint project of the International Peace Academy and the United Nations University - examines the strategies and tactics of international actors, local political elites, and civil society groups, to build or rebuild public institutions before they reach the point of failure: to make the state work. It is frequently assumed that the collapse of state structures, whether through defeat by an external power or as a result of internal chaos, leads to a vacuum of political power. This is rarely the case. The mechanisms through which political power are exercised may be less formalized or consistent, but basic questions of how best to ensure the physical and economic security of oneself and one's dependants do not simply disappear when the institutions of the state break down. Non-state actors in such situations may exercise varying degrees of political power over local populations, at times providing basic social services from education to medical care. Even where non-state actors exist as parasites on local populations, political life goes on. How to engage in such an environment is a particular problem for policymakers in intergovernmental organizations and donor governments. But it poses far greater difficulties for the embattled state institutions and the populations of such territories. Making States Work examines how these various actors have responded to crises in the legitimacy and viability of state institutions, with a particular emphasis on those situations in which the state has been salvaged or at least kept afloat.

NGO Legitimacy: Technical Issue or Social Construct?

Abstract: The legitimacy of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is poorly theorized in development studies literature, where it is usually seen as dependent on accountability, performance and representativ...