Legitimacy as a Political Tool Essay Example

Legitimacy as a social and inter-subjective aspect of democracy is aimed at masking naked power and is no doubt a tool used by those in power and authority to control its subjects and is not a real thing. It is not "a real thing" and is majorly manufactured and is a manufactured thing applied by authoritarian regimes looking to compel obedience in the people. Ergo, power conditions legitimacy (Kupchan 2013). Legitimacy is associated with power, coerced or not. Democratic principles call for "forced" acceptance in accordance with democratic ideals. Legitimacy at the same time, calls for those in authority to exercise the highest level of democratic ideal to achieve the primary purpose of democracy. Although the authority is derived from the people, it is the people who are in turn expected to obey and accept the authority. According to Smith (2012), authority is viewed as the right to exercise power, a condition needed for governing. The said position denotes that without legitimacy may suffer in exercising its rulership. Legitimacy is thus a tool needed to exercise and achieve democratic ideals that make a government survive exercising power and authority.

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People, through their votes, believe that a government and its actions are appropriate and necessary in any democratic environment. At the same time, they do believe that the use of power by a government elected lawfully and rightfully is a legally constituted body of governance (Smith 2012). The above position among the people is a publicity collective belief drawn from the ruling elite meant to subdue the public in obeying and conforming to the standards of social equality and within the realm of the governorship. Any aspiring public figure looking forward to exercising power through democratic principle must and always use the connotation that power is derived from the people (Simmons et al., 2012). Deriving power from the people means that the leadership representative will use the privilege to represent the people at the highest level of governance. It is meant to the legality and rightfulness of the elected representatives who in turn form the government. By exercising power as is derived from the people, the government is in turn vested with peace and order of rulership. The elected elite who make up the government, in turn, use strategic measures to subdue the public into obeying and respecting the established authority (Kupchan, 2013). In respecting the authority, the government, in turn, derives legality and rightfulness of being in power.

Legitimacy is a tool, a strategic measure, and a way of influencing the people into obeying the sitting government into giving it influence, power, control, persuasion, force, control, and authority. According to Armstrong et al., (2005), gaining power through and by coercion and conveying the message of democratic principle gives it not only political power but also the rightfulness to be in a position of influence economically, politically and socially. Legitimacy and power are inseparable and remain the legal means of exercising control over the people.

The government has to make the people believe in its rightful existence in having the authority and exercising power on their behalf. Legitimacy and power as a strategic measure to making the people accept its existence depends on the framework of the relationship between the government and the people. Falk et al., argue that (2012), such a setting is only achieved by making the people believe that they have the power. By making the people believe they have the power, the ruling elite and or government use legitimacy to give itself the ability to force and coarse people into obeying the established laws of the land as proclaimed in their democratic principles.

Conclusion

Legitimacy is a coercive tool used by the government to benefit in exercising authoritative rule over the people and to rule peacefully without opposition or legal hassles. An illegitimate government is a government without the power to coerce its people to obeying the law. In order to achieve the purpose of exercising sufficient control, the government must make itself rightfully in place by prescribing itself to democratic principles that require the people to accept the government as a legal unit. Falk et al., (2012) argue that as a coercive tool, legitimacy offers the government the privilege to stamp its authority by use of all powers vested on it by the constitution (the people). Such a power is only possible by way of having the people accept the instituted government as a legal unit and representation of the people. It thus means that the government is using a tactical turn to exercise the power the people had in enforcing the constitutions' requirement of a sitting government. Kupchan (2013) maintain that it is a tactical move to making the people believe that by exercising its authority, the government is representing the people power through and by use of the constitution and all instruments of power. The government, made up of the ruling elite thus provides the people with the opportunity to believe in its full representation by using the constitution as the people's power in govern ship and leadership.

References

Armstrong, D., Farrell, T., & Maiguashca, B. (Eds.). (2005). Force and legitimacy in world politics. Cambridge University Press.

Falk, R., Juergensmeyer, M., & Popovski, V. (Eds.). (2012). Legality and legitimacy in global affairs. OUP USA.

Kupchan, C. A. (2013). Response to Edward S. Steinfeld's review of No One's World: The West, the Rising Rest, and the Coming Global Turn. Perspectives on Politics, 11(3), 891-892.

Simmons, A., McGraw, J., & Lauchengco, D. (2011). The Sovereignty Solution: A Common Sense Approach to Global Security. Naval Institute Press.

Smith, M. A. (2012). Power in the changing global order: the US, Russia and China. Polity.