Need Belief

Require Light

legitimacy

authority

is the obeying of authority grounded first, in the sense that one has a voice in one's submission, secondly, in a feeling of predictability, and thirdly, in a feeling of fairness.

. . . legitimacy is based on three things. First of all, the people who are asked to obey authority have to feel like they have a voice-- that if they speak up, they will be heard. Second, the law has to be predictable. There has to be a reasonable expectation that the rules tomorrow are going to be roughly the same as the rules today. And third, the authority has to be fair. It can't treat one group differently from another.'

 is that is weakened by defiance, which is why it seeks consensus and compliance; by persuasion, if possible, by coercion, if necessary.

Legitimacy is weakened by defiance: that is why it seeks consensus and compliance-by persuasion, if possible, by coercion, if necessary. . . . Rationality is strengthened by defiance: that is why it is indifferent to consensus and eschews coercion- and why its motto is 'A word to the wise is sufficient'.

is often tied to power and likely to be coercive (in contrast to rationality, which typically tied to knowledge, is unlikely to be so).

The nineteenth-century intellectual saw more clearly the differences between legitimacy and rationality than does his modem counterpart. With the odor of sanctity lingering in his nostrils, he recognized that legitimacy, often tied to power, is likely to be coercive; whereas rationality, typically tied to knowledge, is unlikely to be so. In contrast, hav- ing replaced God with Reason, the modem intellectual, believing that rationality justifies legitimacy, resorts readily to the coercive control of those deemed to be irrational or unreasonable.

legitimacy, n.Definitions

legitimacy