Empirical Legitimacy and Normative Compliance with the Law

Development and validation of the Attitudes Towards Police Legitimacy Scale.

“…Defining legitimacy is no easy task, because the concept is discussed in a variety of literatures, including political, philosophical, and social sciences. Some, including moral philosophers, focus on normative legitimacy, which involves how government institutions should be arranged if their power is justified by an external observer (Hinsch, 2010; Jackson, Milani, & Bradford, in press; Tankebe, 2014). However, social scientists typically consider legitimacy as an empirical concept involving, for example, whether citizens view power as normatively justified (Hinsch, 2008; Jackson et al, in press).…”

“…Some, including moral philosophers, focus on normative legitimacy, which involves how government institutions should be arranged if their power is justified by an external observer (Hinsch, 2010; Jackson, Milani, & Bradford, in press; Tankebe, 2014). However, social scientists typically consider legitimacy as an empirical concept involving, for example, whether citizens view power as normatively justified (Hinsch, 2008; Jackson et al, in press). Within the empirical forms of legitimacy, some define it as a public judgment of appropriateness, whereas others define it as a public judgment of entitlement (for a more in-depth discussion on the history and various views on legitimacy, see Bottoms & Tankebe, 2012; Coicaud, 2002; Hawdon, 2008; Jackson et al, in press; Tankebe, 2014; Tyler & Jackson, 2014).…”

“…We agree with Bottoms and Tankebe (2012) that obligation is not necessarily a key element of legitimacy itself but rather a potential consequence of it. Indeed, it is possible to respond affirmatively to obligation items such as “you should accept the decisions made by police, even if you think they are wrong” not because of a sense of legitimacy but because of a feeling of powerlessness (Jackson et al, in press).…”

Comparing the Perceived Legitimacy of Content Moderation Processes: Contractors, Algorithms, Expert Panels, and Digital Juries

“…Legitimacy can be understood on either a normative or descriptive basis [72,113]. In its normative sense, legitimacy "refers to some benchmark of acceptability or justification of political power or authority and-possibly-obligation" [113].…”

“…This study examines legitimacy in its descriptive sense, i.e., as a measurable, subjective, sociological phenomenon, referred to using the more common phrase perceived legitimacy [137]. However, while we emphasize perceived legitimacy for its established practical benefits, we recognize the role that normative principles like fairness play in shaping attitudes [72]. As such, we will discuss prior work examining both conceptions of legitimacy, using legitimacy to refer to the expansive concept in both its normative and descriptive senses.…”