Legitimacy is better understood as contingency control than as justification or consent.

Evidence

For some time, the academic debate about U.S. constitutionalism has looked for justifications for our practices, believing this would confer legitimacy on them. In my work, I have endeavored to derive legitimacy from the practices themselves, reserving the task of justification for other — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 15 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Legitimacy can be derived from constitutional practices rather than from justifications. — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 15; Legal legitimacy is structural contingency, not shared conviction; Legitimacy and justification are distinct concepts in constitutional theory. — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 451 (+6 more)

Related

• Legal legitimacy is structural contingency, not shared conviction (similarity 0.92)
• Legitimacy can be derived from constitutional practices rather than from justifications. (similarity 0.88)
• Legitimacy and justification are distinct concepts in constitutional theory. (similarity 0.86)
• Constitutional law’s foundational modalities derive legitimacy from use alone, not external validation. (similarity 0.86)
• Classical constitutional puzzles reduce fundamentally to questions of legitimacy and legitimation. (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 0.83)
• Legitimacy is about structures controlling code contingency, not justification or acceptance. (similarity 0.82)
• Law creates legitimacy structurally by formatting power-holders into chains of mutual recourse (similarity 0.80)
• Legal meaning derives from practices of legitimation, not truth conditions. (similarity 0.79)
• Legal validity derives from normative authority, not from physical power alone. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Legal legitimacy is structural contingency, not shared conviction #corroborates (0.85)
• Legitimacy can be derived from constitutional practices rather than from justifications. #corroborates (0.75) — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 15
• Authority builds from accumulated past compliance without requiring ongoing justification #corroborates (0.70)
• Legitimacy and justification are distinct concepts in constitutional theory. #exemplifies (0.65) — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 451
• Power cannot self-realize but depends on societal-structural conditions for legitimacy #corroborates (0.60)
• Legal validity derives from normative authority, not from physical power alone. #expands (0.55) — Ronald M. Dworkin, The Model of Rules, 48
• Social control includes winning consent, not just coercive punishment #expands (0.50)
• Common law legitimacy derives from published judicial opinions and public reasoning. #qualifies (0.50) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 115