Legitimacy without Liberalism: A Defense of Max Weber’s Standard of Political Legitimacy
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Amanda R. Greene
Abstract
In this paper I defend Max Weber's concept of political legitimacy as a standard for the moral evaluation of states. On this view, a state is legitimate when its subjects regard it as having a valid claim to exercise power and authority. Weber’s analysis of legitimacy is often assumed to be merely descriptive, but I argue that Weberian legitimacy has moral significance because it indicates that political stability has been secured on the basis of civic alignment. Stability on this basis enables all the goods of peaceful cooperation with minimal state violence and intimidation, thereby guarding against alienation and tyranny. Furthermore, I argue, since Weberian legitimacy is empirically measurable in terms that avoid controversial value judgments, its adoption would bridge a longstanding divide between philosophers and social scientists
© 2017 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelei
- Contents
- Editorial
- Focus: Evaluating Societies Morally?
- How Should One Evaluate the Soviet Revolution?
- The Philosophy of History: A Value-pluralist Response
- Evaluating Societies Morally: The Case of Development and ‘Developing’ Societies
- Strategies for the Justification of Law
- Legitimacy without Liberalism: A Defense of Max Weber’s Standard of Political Legitimacy
- General Part
- The Secularization Theory—Not Disconfirmed, Yet Rarely Tested
- Paths to Modernity and the Secularization Issue
- What Can we Learn from ‘Postmodern’ Critiques of Education for Autonomy?
- Discussion: Comments on J. Holt, Requirements of Justice and Liberal Socialism
- ‘Property-Owning Democracy’? ‘Liberal Socialism’? Or Just Plain Capitalism?
- Democratic Rights and the Choice of Economic Systems
- The Demands of Democratic Ownership
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelei
- Contents
- Editorial
- Focus: Evaluating Societies Morally?
- How Should One Evaluate the Soviet Revolution?
- The Philosophy of History: A Value-pluralist Response
- Evaluating Societies Morally: The Case of Development and ‘Developing’ Societies
- Strategies for the Justification of Law
- Legitimacy without Liberalism: A Defense of Max Weber’s Standard of Political Legitimacy
- General Part
- The Secularization Theory—Not Disconfirmed, Yet Rarely Tested
- Paths to Modernity and the Secularization Issue
- What Can we Learn from ‘Postmodern’ Critiques of Education for Autonomy?
- Discussion: Comments on J. Holt, Requirements of Justice and Liberal Socialism
- ‘Property-Owning Democracy’? ‘Liberal Socialism’? Or Just Plain Capitalism?
- Democratic Rights and the Choice of Economic Systems
- The Demands of Democratic Ownership
