Legitimacy, Justice and Democracy

Legitimacy is closely linked to the values of justice and democracy. This chapter argues that legitimate institutions do not have to be perfectly just. If we ascribed the right to function only to perfectly just political institutions, we would most probably end up without any rightful institution. But the value of justice can be realised to a higher degree if we do have political institutions. We should therefore regard as legitimate the feasible institutional alternative that is most just. In this way, the critical potential of the concept of legitimacy is realised because we content ourselves with nothing worse than the best we can expect. At the same time, the concept of legitimacy remains relevant because feasibility constraints are taken into account. The chapter also investigates the relationship between legitimacy and democracy. It argues that democratic decision-making procedures are intrinsically just and often also have important instrumental virtues. Democracy is thus crucial for both the input and the output perspective on legitimacy.