ABSTRACT
Legitimacy should be at the heart of any government. Without it, coercive measures have to be deployed, and it is far more productive to keep a society content by providing for its needs than it is for a self-interested ruling elite to seek compliance through violence. The social contract between the rulers and the ruled should therefore be one based on trust and respect, not on fear and coercion. In this respect, legitimacy can be defined as a psychological relationship between the governed and their governors, which engenders a belief that the state’s leaders and institutions have a right to exercise political authority over the rest of society. Legitimacy will convince, rather than force, citizens to obey the state.
