The state, or quality, of being legitimate, or in conformity with law; hence, the condition of having been lawfully begotten, or born in wedlock.
a government that has the moral authority to govern. This moral authority may be derived from lawful transfer of power, from the gods or tradition. Manor: an agricultural estate under the control of a single individual or lord. Manorialism: [sometimes referred to as the seignorial system] the system by which the lord exploited the serfs or tenants who worked his estate. Mensheviks Mercantilism Mythopoeic Thought Nation: a form of imagined community in which the members of the community imagine themselves to share a common history and culture. A nation may or may not associated with a particular state. Nationalism
the right to rule on the basis of recognized principles.
the degree to which an action, process, actor or institution is perceived as having legal, moral or ethical authority and consequently whether it should be recognized or dealt with. In situations of civil war and insurgency, contested legitimacy may be at the heart of the conflict. Legitimization refers to an action or process that is perceived as granting legal or moral status to another actor or institution.
Acceptance as right and proper.
social acceptance of the enterprise and its aims; perceived to conform with 'the spirit of the law' as well as 'the letter of the law'; may be referred to as 'licence to operate'
lawfulness by virtue of being authorized or in accordance with law
social recognition of an authority's claims to be taken seriously; it implies negative social sanctions for failure to comply with authoritative commands
Legitimacy refers to the perceived fairness of a dispute resolution process. For example, fair elections or litigation based on socially-accepted laws are generally considered legitimate, as are the decisions that result from such processes. On the other hand, elections where voters are harassed or forced to vote a particular way are usually considered illegitimate, as are court decisions handed down by biased courts. Legitimacy of decision-making procedures is important, because illegitimate procedures almost always escalate conflicts, making their ultimate resolution more difficult.
the moral and legal right to rule, which is based on law, custom, heredity, or the consent of the governed; with reference to a government, a state recognized by members of the international community (29)
the belief among citizens that their government has the right to pass and enforce laws.
In the common law tradition, legitimacy describes the status of children who are born to parents that are legally married, or shortly after a marriage ends through death or divorce. Its opposite is the status of being illegitimate, a person born to unmarried parents, or to a married woman but whose father was someone other than her husband.
Legitimacy in political science, is the popular acceptance of a governing regime or law as an authority. Where as authority refers to a specific position in an established government, the term legitimacy is used when describing a system of government itself —where "government may be generalized to mean the wider "sphere of influence."