Journal article
A Social Norms Approach to Legitimacy
The American behavioral scientist (Beverly Hills), Vol.53(3), pp.400-415
11/2009
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/113806
Abstract
Rulers seek to develop legitimacy. Legitimacy is a murky concept, however, and just how rulers might attain it is not well understood. This article explores the implications of conceptualizing legitimacy as a social norm that encourages people to support the ruler. This conceptualization points to the importance of social relations as well as characteristics of the ruler and his or her behavior. These factors together are argued to affect the extent to which norms supporting the ruler are enforced and, in turn, the extent to which people obey and respond to calls to action by the ruler. On this view, a ruler seeking legitimacy should consider (a) the messages he or she sends to citizens about himself or herself and (b) the ways in which his or her policies affect ties between citizens.
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Details
- Title
- A Social Norms Approach to Legitimacy
- Creators
- Christine Horne - Washington State University, Pullman
- Publication Details
- The American behavioral scientist (Beverly Hills), Vol.53(3), pp.400-415
- Academic Unit
- Sociology, Department of
- Identifiers
- 99900548085201842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article