The Importance of Political Legitimacy in the Middle East

      In any serious study of politics, it is necessary to understand the concept of political legitimacy. In particular, it is important to define clearly such an ambiguous idea and then to relate it to understanding the political phenomenon. Ted Gurr argued in 1970 that political legitimacy is best defined as the extent to which citizens regard a government as proper and deserving of support.¹ G. Hossein Razi takes this definition a step further by defining what is necessary to generate public support by arguing that legitimacy “refers to the extent to which the relevant portion of the population perceives that the regime is behaving.”² Further, Razi argues that the very rationality that causes the population to perceive acceptable behavior is based on cherished values and principles.³ Therefore, a more complete definition of legitimacy is; the extent to which the population perceives adherence of the government to popular values.

      Legitimacy is an important concept because it affords the government the support of the public in a way that would cause members of the population to give voluntarily their own lives and fortunes.⁴ On the other hand, a lack of legitimacy results in two options: either chronic instability or despotic government that relies on the use of force to keep order.⁵ In Middle Eastern politics, legitimacy has particular relevancy because of the apparent difficulty in obtaining it. Due to a variety of reasons, including but not limited to ethnic divisions, religious disagreements, and external influences and arbitrary borders, Middle Eastern governments are particularly prone to public feelings of illegitimacy.⁶ Therefore, the study of Middle Eastern governments and politics must have at its forefront the realization that political legitimacy can only be obtained when common ground regarding values and principles are reached, and thus any efforts to stabilize the Middle East should focus on finding and exploiting opportunities to create agreement.

References:

1. Gurr, T. R. "Why Men Rebel." Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 1970. 183-185.

2. Razi, G. H. "The Nexus of Legitimacy and Performance: The Lessons of the Iranian Revolution." Comparative Politics. 19: 461-462.

3. Razi, G. H. "Legitimacy, Religion, and Nationalism in the Middle East." The American Political Science Review. Vol 84. no. 1. 1990. 72.

4. Ibid.

5. Hudson, M. C. "Arab Politics: The Search for Legitimacy." New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 1977. 16.

6. Ibid. 5-6.

Originally posted elsewhere on September 27, 2010. Updated May 20, 2011