Legitimacy within the State

Since this book was first published, the academic study of legitimacy has developed enormously. In political science there has been a big growth in research on the comparative legitimacy of states, both in particular regions and across the world, and in the development of empirical indicators for assessing this. Within states research on legitimacy has burgeoned in the field of criminal justice, and the study of compliance with the authority of the police, courts and prisons. Beyond the state a huge interest has developed in the basis of legitimacy of international institutions, whether inter-governmental organisations, NGOs, financial institutions or regional bodies such as the European Union. All of these developments are reviewed and assessed in this new part of the book.