Democratic legitimacy requires tacit constitutional consensus renewed each generation

Evidence

Since then, the widespread background consensus on constitutional principles among the population generally differs from a religiously based legitimation in virtue of being brought about democratically – hence, also through the deliberative exchange of arguments. Such a background consensus must be tacitly renewed in every generation, for otherwise democracies would not endure. — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 66

Categorization

• XREF: Extends the 1962 secularization-of-legitimacy argument; also speaks to the restless-renewal theme in the classic public-sphere narrative. — connects to: Deliberative democracy is agonal dissent atop constitutional consensus, not consensus-seeking talk. — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 19; Media structure enabling deliberative opinion is a constitutional imperative. — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 49; Constitutional states depend on founding solidarity that later generations must renew through participation — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 85 (+4 more)
• ADDENDUM: Directly extends the theory of how legitimacy is generated and renewed, complementing the sacrifice-based account of legitimacy in the third published article.

Related

• Secularization left a legitimation gap that only democratic procedure could fill (similarity 0.81)
• Power-legitimation must come from within democracy itself once unifying worldviews fade (similarity 0.81)
• Constitutional states depend on founding solidarity that later generations must renew through participation (similarity 0.80)
• Deliberative democracy is agonal dissent atop constitutional consensus, not consensus-seeking talk. (similarity 0.80)
• Minorities accept majority rule only under a shared constitutional consensus. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Constitutional states depend on founding solidarity that later generations must renew through participation #corroborates (0.95) — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 85
• Legitimacy can be derived from constitutional practices rather than from justifications. #complicates (0.75) — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 15
• Democratic legitimacy depends on citizens’ internalized commitment that imposed systems cannot replace #expands (0.72) — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 74
• Power-legitimation must come from within democracy itself once unifying worldviews fade #expands (0.70) — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 92