Analysis of Political Legitimacy in Government Constitutionalism Theory

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 University of Science and Research in Tehran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of International Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Iran.

3 Professor of Public Law, University of Tehran, Department of Public Law, Iran

Abstract

The issue of political legitimacy is the justifiable reason for the government to resort to public authority. Management of social affairs requires a highly unrivaled political institution at the head of the public institutions, which is the government and what justifies a governing political institution in using public power, is the legitimacy it asserts. What is the source and basis of legitimacy, is challenging and controversial that is described using some theories especially in politic philosophy and above challenges were addressed. Government constitutionalism theory laid the theories of liberal governments and caused popularization of governments, drafting the constitution and governance of law. Thinkers by proposing social contract theory, first tried to show the power of government within the framework of a social contract granted by the citizens to the rulers. Then, by imposing restrictions to power and guaranteeing the freedom of citizens, they elevated the ideas of more popular governments. In this article, explaining the nature of political legitimacy and a historical look at the evolution of government constitutionalism theory, we analyze the element of legitimacy in a constitutional government.

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