ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by examining the notions of legitimacy and legitimate domination. Although the authority of the hegemonic power is ultimately established by military and economic supremacy, "the position of the dominant power may be supported by ideological, religious, or other values common to a set of states". Scholars working within the Realist tradition also recognize the importance of ideological and normative aspects of power. Legitimate domination comes about when a nation's leadership position in the international system is based on right as well as might. The conceptions of legitimacy—as the rule of law and as a consensual normative order—have relevant applications to international relations. In Germany, a central legacy of the Allied occupation was the decentralization of the political system and the curtailment of the powers of the federal government. When socialization occurs through external inducement, the hegemon initially uses economic and military incentives to induce smaller states to change their policies.
