ABSTRACT
This chapter engages in a more general socio-legal inquiry separating, first of all, the general and classic problem of legitimacy from the specific and modern problem of statehood. Second, it emphasises the difference between the philosophical and sociological conceptualisation of legitimacy and the impact of social and sociological theories on the concept of legitimacy by legality. It especially focuses on the problem of values and their ambiguity in legitimation of the nation state. Finally, it addresses the problem of legitimacy beyond statehood and normative expectations in post-sovereign and post-national society. In this society, the state's legitimacy by efficiency is diminished because of its limited capacity to deal with global social problems, such as tax avoidance, security, health and environmental risks. At the same time, transnational organisations and their normative regimes addressing these problems are already constituted with legitimacy deficits because they cannot emulate the state's strong legitimation by democratic procedures or civil rights and liberties. Analysing the concepts of legitimacy and the state in their transnational context therefore involves revisiting the classic sociological understanding of law as one of many normative systems in society and the state as one of many societal organisations.
