Rulership - Theories of State Legitimacy

Theories of State Legitimacy

Main article: Legitimacy (political) See also: Social contract and State of nature

States generally rely on a claim to some form of political legitimacy in order to maintain domination over their subjects.

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Famous quotes containing the words theories of, theories, state and/or legitimacy:

    Our books of science, as they improve in accuracy, are in danger of losing the freshness and vigor and readiness to appreciate the real laws of Nature, which is a marked merit in the ofttimes false theories of the ancients.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    The two most far-reaching critical theories at the beginning of the latest phase of industrial society were those of Marx and Freud. Marx showed the moving powers and the conflicts in the social-historical process. Freud aimed at the critical uncovering of the inner conflicts. Both worked for the liberation of man, even though Marx’s concept was more comprehensive and less time-bound than Freud’s.
    Erich Fromm (1900–1980)

    A functioning police state needs no police.
    William Burroughs (b. 1914)

    In New York—whose subway trains in particular have been “tattooed” with a brio and an energy to put our own rude practitioners to shame—not an inch of free space is spared except that of advertisements.... Even the most chronically dispossessed appear prepared to endorse the legitimacy of the “haves.”
    Gilbert Adair, British author, critic. “Cleaning and Cleansing,” Myths and Memories (1986)