ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the etymology of the word 'legitimacy' and discusses the political principle of legitimacy, which is predominant in the literature. In an article entitled 'Individualism and the problem of political authority', Tibor Machan writes that the question of political legitimacy is crucial for individualists. Harry Beran argues that the legitimacy of political authority lies in the consent of a group to that authority. The shift in the academic use of the word 'legitimacy' seems to have its origins in the work of Max Weber, who gave it currency in sociology. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) states that the term 'legitimate' originally referred to 'the action or process of rendering or authoritatively declaring (a person) legitimate', and by extension, to the act that renders something lawful or legal. James Fishkin considers the discrepancy between moral and democratic standards in Tyranny and Legitimacy, where he reviews the political principles that have been used to determine the question of legitimacy.
