The Foundations of Legitimacy - Power, Authority, and the Right to Rule

Legitimacy is the invisible force that holds societies together. It determines who has the right to govern, who is trusted with power, and what systems are seen as just. Without legitimacy, power is fragile - it can be challenged, resisted, or overthrown. With it, even the most controversial policies and leaders can endure.

But legitimacy is not a neutral or universal concept. Different societies - and different people - justify power in different ways. Some believe that legitimacy comes from tradition, hierarchy, and foundational authority. Others believe it must be earned through consent, fairness, and evolving ethical responsibility.

These competing views of legitimacy are at the heart of the legitimacy war we see today. And to understand this war, we must first examine how legitimacy has been defined, challenged, and reshaped throughout history.

The Evolution of Legitimacy: From Divine Right to Democracy

Throughout history, those in power have always sought to justify their rule. The dominant frameworks for legitimacy have shifted over time, but the underlying battle - who gets to rule, and why? - has never changed.

1. Divine Right & Traditional Legitimacy
   • For centuries, rulers claimed legitimacy through divine right - the belief that kings and emperors were chosen by gods.
   • Monarchies maintained power not because they were elected or accountable, but because their rule was seen as ordained and unquestionable.
   • To challenge a king was not just political rebellion - it was heresy.
2. The Rise of Social Contract Theory
   • Thinkers like John Locke¹ and Jean-Jacques Rousseau² challenged divine right, arguing that legitimacy should come from the people, not the gods.
   • They introduced the idea of the social contract - the belief that governments must be based on the consent of the governed.
   • This idea helped fuel the American and French Revolutions, reshaping the modern world’s understanding of legitimate authority.
3. The Persistence of Hierarchy-Based Legitimacy
   • Even as democratic systems spread, hierarchical legitimacy remained deeply embedded in racial, gender, and economic structures.
   • Slavery was justified by claiming that some people were naturally inferior and unfit for self-rule.
   • Women were denied voting rights on the grounds that their role was to be ruled by men.
   • The wealthy justified their power by portraying economic success as proof of moral superiority.
4. The Expansion of Fairness-Based Legitimacy
   • Over time, legitimacy expanded beyond race, gender, and class barriers.
   • The abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, and the civil rights movement were not just policy victories - they were legitimacy battles.
   • Each of these movements challenged the idea that only certain people were “qualified” to hold power and be full members of society.

Hierarchy-Based vs. Fairness-Based Legitimacy: The Core Divide

Today, the battle between hierarchy-based and fairness-based legitimacy is playing out in real time.

Most modern democratic societies claim to be based on fairness-based legitimacy, but in reality, hierarchy-based legitimacy remains deeply embedded in their institutions. This is why Trumpism, anti-wokeness, and authoritarian politics have gained so much traction - they are not new ideas, but old legitimacy structures fighting to reassert themselves.

Legitimacy Battles Are Never Settled - They Are Contested, Won, and Recontested

The legitimacy war is not a new phenomenon - it is a recurring cycle in history. Every time fairness-based legitimacy expands, those invested in hierarchy fight back.

• The end of slavery led to Jim Crow laws.
• Women’s suffrage led to decades of political and economic exclusion.
• The Civil Rights Movement led to mass incarceration and voter suppression.
• The election of Barack Obama led to the rise of Trumpism.

This is the pattern of legitimacy battles:

1. A marginalized group gains new legitimacy.
2. Those invested in the old legitimacy structure react with fear, backlash, and attempts to restore hierarchy.
3. The battle repeats itself - because legitimacy is never given, only taken and defended.

We are now in another phase of this war. The question is not whether fairness-based legitimacy is right - the question is whether it will survive.

The Legitimacy War Is Now Openly Political

For much of the 20th century, the legitimacy war was disguised as political disagreement.

• Segregationists claimed they were just supporting “states’ rights.”
• Anti-feminists claimed they were just defending “family values.”
• Anti-LGBTQ+ activists claimed they were just protecting “religious freedom.”

But today, the legitimacy war is no longer hidden behind coded language. It is being waged openly.

• Trump has declared that “wokeness” must be eradicated - not debated, not disagreed with, but eliminated.
• The Supreme Court is actively rolling back fairness-based legitimacy protections.
• Conservative leaders are banning books, censoring history, and criminalizing LGBTQ+ existence - not to “protect” children, but to strip entire groups of legitimacy.

This is not just a battle of ideas. It is a battle over who gets to define legitimacy itself.

What Comes Next

Understanding the legitimacy war is the first step in fighting back. Those who believe in fairness-based legitimacy must recognize what they are fighting for - and what they are fighting against.

This is not just a political battle. It is a struggle for the future of power, authority, and justice itself.

And as history has shown, legitimacy does not remain static. It is either defended or dismantled. The only question left is: who will win?

Further Reading

¹ John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (1689) – One of the foundational texts of fairness-based legitimacy and democratic consent.
² Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract (1762) – A key work arguing that legitimacy must come from the will of the people.
³ Max Weber, Politics as a Vocation (1919) – Introduces the concept of legitimacy types (traditional, charismatic, rational-legal).
⁴ Carole Pateman, The Sexual Contract (1988) – Argues that social contract theory has historically excluded women from legitimate political participation.
⁵ Charles Mills, The Racial Contract (1997) – Explores how racial hierarchy has been embedded in legitimacy structures throughout history.