Authority as an Organising Principle in Sociology: Preparing the Ground for Talk about the Legitimacy of the State

This chapter examines how the social sciences (this term is used loosely to include at least sociology social philosophy and political science) orient to the issue of legitimacy. Legitimacy is here understood to be one aspect among many of what can be called a moral orientation to the world, which includes such processes as determining rights, duties, justice, guilt and just punishment, as well as conversion, confession and proselytisation. Basically, there are two approaches. One is to look at the process of legitimation, or more broadly at morality as a social phenomenon to be investigated and explained, the core question being: 'How is Legitimation (morality) achieved through social activity and with what consequences?' The other approach is to view legitimation as something to be practiced, that is, to assume that it is the task of social scientists to legitimise (or de-legitimise) whatever is at issue (whether it be the state or any other social matter), or to be more general, that it is necessary for social scientists to orient morally towards the world.