Emerging traits of late global modernity such as transnationalism, multiculturalism, individualization and supranational contexts of action raise the question of what holds society together. Responses have typically made reference to legitimization, but the modern world presents challenges to such responses, for in such a differentiated, globalized setting, legitimization can no longer appeal to the previous national, ideological or religious foundations of early modernity. From a variety of theoretical and empirical perspectives, this book explores the manner in which legitimization can be constructed by people, groups or institutions under the contemporary pressures and possibilities of modern world society. Drawing on cosmopolitan theory, postcolonial sociology, systems theory, and historical sociology, it engages with questions of human rights, processes of individualization and the constitution of transnational spaces in its examination of the challenges to legitimization. As such, it will be of interest to scholars of sociology, political science and social and legal theory, concerned with questions of globalization and the problems of social cohesion and legitimacy.

Legitimacy is central for the capacity of global governance institutions to address problems such as climate change, trade protectionism, and human rights abuses. However, despite legitimacy's importance for global governance, its workings remain poorly understood. That is the core concern of this volume: to develop an agenda for systematic and comparative research on legitimacy in global governance. In complementary fashion, the chapters address different aspects of the overarching question: whether, why, how, and with what consequences global governance institutions gain, sustain, and lose legitimacy? The volume makes four specific contributions. First, it argues for a sociological approach to legitimacy, centered on perceptions of legitimate global governance among affected audiences. Second, it moves beyond the traditional focus on states as the principal audience for legitimacy in global governance and considers a full spectrum of actors from governments to citizens. Third, it advocates a comparative approach to the study of legitimacy in global governance, and suggests strategies for comparison across institutions, issue areas, countries, societal groups, and time. Fourth, the volume offers the most comprehensive treatment so far of the sociological legitimacy of global governance, covering three broad analytical themes: (1) sources of legitimacy, (2) processes of legitimation and delegitimation, and (3) consequences of legitimacy.

In spite of the lack of plausible alternatives to liberal democracy, the age of globalization has ushered in serious challenges to the democratic legitimacy of the nation state. The contributors in this collection explore the frontiers of normative and empirical legitimacy research, drawing upon a range of key conceptual and methodological issues.

The past sixty years have seen an expansion of international human rights conventions and supervisory organs, not least in Europe. While these international legal instruments have enlarged their mandate, they have also faced opposition and criticism from political actors at the state level, even in well-functioning democracies. Against the backdrop of such contestations, this book brings together prominent scholars in law, political philosophy and international relations in order to address the legitimacy of international human rights regimes as a theoretically challenging and politically salient case of international authority. It provides a unique and thorough overview of the legitimacy problems involved in the global governance of human rights.

There has been intense debate in recent times over the legitimacy or otherwise of international law. This book contains fresh perspectives on these questions, offered at an international and interdisciplinary conference hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Law and International Law. At issue are questions including, for example, whether international law lacks legitimacy in general and whether international law or a part of it has yielded to the facts of power.

This is a study of the theory and history of international norms. How does international society come to adopt certain norms in particular? This book shows how ideas of international legitimacy have evolved, and makes us rethink the nature of international society.

A pressing question at the forefront of current global political debates is: how can we salvage the democratic project in the context of 'globalization'? In recent years political activists have mounted high-profile campaigns for the democratization of powerful international institutions such as the World Bank and IMF, and for greater 'corporate accountability'. In turn, many of the NGOs linked to these campaigns have themselves faced demands for greater democratic legitimacy.Global Stakeholder Democracy responds to these challenges by outlining an innovative theoretical and institutional framework for democratizing the many state and non-state actors wielding public power in contemporary global politics. In doing so, the book lays out a promising new agenda for globaldemocratic reform. Its analysis begins with the recognition that we cannot simply recreate traditional constitutional and electoral institutions of democratic states on a global scale, through the construction of a democratic 'super-state'. Rather, we must develop new kinds of democratic institutions capable of dealing with the realities of global pluralism, and democratizing powerful non-state actors as well as states. Through reflecting on the democratic dilemmas surrounding the politicalpower of global NGOs, the book mounts a powerful challenge to the state-centric theoretical assumptions that have underpinned the established democratic theories of both 'cosmopolitan' and 'communitarian' liberals. In particular, it challenges the widespread assumption that 'sovereign' power, 'bounded'(national or global) societies, and 'electoral' processes are essential institutional foundations of a democratic system. The book then re-thinks the democratic project from its conceptual foundations, posing the questions: What needs to be controlled? Who ought to control it? How could they do so? In answering these questions, the book develops a novel theoretical model of representative democracy that is focused on plural (state and non-state) actors rather than on unitary state structures.It elaborates a democratic framework based on the new theoretical concepts of 'public power', 'stakeholder communities' and 'non-electoral representation', and illustrates the practical implications of these proposals for projects of global institutional reform.