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Public political thought: bridging the sociological–philosophical divide in the study of legitimacy
Author(s) -
Abulof Uriel
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the british journal of sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.826
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1468-4446
pISSN - 0007-1315
DOI - 10.1111/1468-4446.12192
Subject(s) - legitimation , legitimacy , politics , sociology , epistemology , political philosophy , democracy , deliberative democracy , construct (python library) , social science , environmental ethics , political science , law , philosophy , computer science , programming language
The study of political legitimacy is divided between prescriptive and descriptive approaches. Political philosophy regards legitimacy as principled justification , sociology regards legitimacy as public support . However, all people can, and occasionally do engage in morally reasoning their political life. This paper thus submits that in studying socio‐political legitimation – the legitimacy‐making process – the philosophical ought and the sociological is can be bridged. I call this construct ‘public political thought’ (PPT), signifying the public's principled moral reasoning of politics , which need not be democratic or liberal. The paper lays PPT's foundations and identifies its ‘builders’ and ‘building blocks’. I propose that the edifice of PPT is built by moral agents constructing and construing socio‐moral order ( nomization ). PPT's building blocks are justificatory common beliefs ( doxa ) and the deliberative language of legitimation. I illustrate the merits of this groundwork through two empirical puzzles: the end of apartheid and the emergence of Québécois identity.