Classical constitutional puzzles reduce fundamentally to questions of legitimacy and legitimation.

Evidence

By showing the way in which legitimacy is established and maintained in a constitutional system like ours, I hoped to derive solutions to a number of classical questions, all of which, I believe, are at bottom questions about legitimacy and legitimation. … At the same time, I also wished to propose a way of understanding constitutional law that changed its relationship to jurisprudence, as practiced nowadays, rendering some — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 16

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to constitutional theory debates about judicial review, populism, and legitimate authority — relevant to political philosophy and legal scholarship clashes. — connects to: Motivation for a ruling must be distinguished from constitutional causality — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 807; Legitimacy and justification are distinct concepts in constitutional theory. — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 451; The legal form of composition fallacies moves from specifics to generalities. — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 1219 (+3 more)
• DEFINE: Frames legitimacy/legitimation as the organizing concept for the entire body of constitutional questions.

Related

• Legitimacy and justification are distinct concepts in constitutional theory. (similarity 0.88)
• Legal legitimacy is structural contingency, not shared conviction (similarity 0.85)
• Constitutional law’s foundational modalities derive legitimacy from use alone, not external validation. (similarity 0.84)
• Legitimacy can be derived from constitutional practices rather than from justifications. (similarity 0.84)
• Legitimacy is better understood as contingency control than as justification or consent. (similarity 0.83)
• and their presence in our political discourse does not require us to deny them legitimacy or to corrupt our forms of decision according to law. American constitutional law can be a profoundly… (similarity 0.82)
• Extra-legal justifications of judicial review lead to infinite regress (similarity 0.81)
• Balkin and Levinson conclude that I must either accept whatever is practiced or abandon my pose as simply a descriptive observer. These descriptions depend on several assumptions that I do not… (similarity 0.78)
• Postmodern constitutional thought marks a shift from truth to meaning. (similarity 0.78)
• This is Tushnet’s move in the debate about the counter-majoritarian objection to judicial review. I have given an argument that shows that what we thought were issues crucial to legitimacy were… (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Legitimacy and justification are distinct concepts in constitutional theory. #complicates (0.65) — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 451
• This is Tushnet’s move in the debate about the counter-majoritarian objection to judicial review. I have given an argument that shows that what we thought were issues crucial to legitimacy were… #expands (0.60)
• Of course the suggestion that we stop talking about ‘the law’ and ‘legal obligation’ is mostly bluff. These concepts are too deeply cemented into the structure of our political practices-they… #complicates (0.55)
• Reductionist legal theories obscure the diverse functions of rules within a social system #complicates (0.55) — HLA Hart, The Concept of Law (Clarendon Law…, 649
• Motivation for a ruling must be distinguished from constitutional causality #complicates (0.50) — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 807
• The legal form of composition fallacies moves from specifics to generalities. #exemplifies (0.50) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 1219