Practically, legitimacy in the context of political systems means public or political accountability. Need of a satisfactory solution to public accountability is greater because of its legal mechanism. The State is a compulsory organisation having monopoly over the exercise of coercive power. As all citizens and subordinates, and their non-adult dependents have a faith in the legitimacy of its structures, [...]
Besides Max Weber's typology of legitimacy, the need and feeling for justice can be regarded as another source of legitimacy. In fact, ideology of the people, and not of the rulers, is the main source of legitimacy. In democracies, legitimacy is indicated by its ideals, popular consent, representativeness, elections, rule of majority, civic liberties and similar privileges available to the [...]
Legitimacy is the life of democracy. But it does not mean that all should invariably believe in identical set of values or creed. Democracy does not believe in ostracising the people having opinion different from prevalent ideas or beliefs. The modern trend, instead of concentrating on consensus, in all matters, stands for consensus on procedure. It believes in the existence [...]