I Trends in Theorizing Democratic Legitimacy

Abstract

The current literature on democratic legitimacy is vital to addressing why assaults on democracy are effective. The theoretical frameworks of the construction of legitimacy by international organizations (IOs) help us comprehend how and why IOs seek support and when the results of these quests effectively curb democratic backsliding in their member states. Furthermore, the explanatory models of domestic democratic legitimacy allow us to understand how anti-democratic actors claim the right to rule and what makes their claims successful. They also explain what makes militant democracies fail. The theories differentiate between socially attributed legitimacy and the acquisition of social legitimacy through claims to the right to rule. Their conceptualizations differ depending on the audiences, claimants, and consequences of legitimacy.