An Integrative Model of Legitimacy Judgments

Abstract

I develop a theoretical framework that specifies the content underlying legitimacy judgments and a model of the process by which these judgments develop and change. I argue that individual-level legitimacy judgments are based on evaluations that fall along three dimensions (instrumental, relational, and moral). I specify three stages of the legitimacy judgment process and two modes by which judgments may be developed or revised (evaluative and passive). I end by discussing implications for the study of institutional change.