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The meaning and measure of state legitimacy: Results for 72 countries
Author(s) -
GILLEY BRUCE
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6765.2006.00307.x
Subject(s) - legitimacy , meaning (existential) , state (computer science) , politics , measure (data warehouse) , political science , population , positive economics , sociology , economics , epistemology , law , computer science , data mining , philosophy , demography , algorithm
. This article presents a quantitative measurement of the political legitimacy of states in the late 1990s and early 2000s for 72 states containing 5.1 billion people, or 83 per cent of the world's population. First, the concept of state legitimacy is defined and justified. The definition includes the subjects, objects and sub‐types of legitimacy. A strategy to achieve replicable cross‐national measurements of legitimacy is then outlined and implemented, including a discussion of data sources and three alternative aggregation methods. The results are briefly examined and tested, and the uncertainties of quantitative measures discussed. Finally, the role of supplementary qualitative measurement is considered.