The Right to Rule: How States Win and Lose Legitimacy

Popular perceptions of a state's legitimacy are inextricably bound toits ability to rule. Vast military and material reserves cannot counter the power ofa citizen's belief, and the more widespread the crisis of a state's legitimacy, thegreater the threat to its stability. Even such established democracies as France andIndia are losing their moral claims over society, while such highly illiberal statesas China and Iran enjoy strong showings of publicsupport.Through a remarkable fusion of empirical research andtheory, Bruce Gilley makes clear the link between political consent and politicalrule. Fixing a definition of legitimacy that is both general and particular, he isable to study the role of legitimacy as it has been maintained and lost in a diverseselection of societies. He begins by detailing the origins of state legitimacy andthe methods governments have used to wield it best. He then considers the habits ofless successful states, exploring how the process works across different styles ofgovernment.Gilley's unique approach merges a broad study oflegitimacy and performance in seventy-two states with a detailed empirical analysisof the mechanisms of legitimation. The results are tested on a case study of Uganda,a country that, after 1986, began to recover from decades of civil war. Consideringa range of explanations of other domestic and international phenomena as well,Gilley ultimately argues that, because of its evident real-world importance,legitimacy should occupy a central place in political analysis.

"Bruce Gilley does a wonderful job of organizing the literature on legitimacy and governance. He then adds an ambitious empirical effort to explore whether legitimacy is important in governance and, if so, which elements of legitimacy are key. This book is a must read for those interested in understanding the factors that lead to successful vs. failing states." -Tom Tyler, University Professor, New