Legitimacy and the State

by William E. Connolly (Editor)

Brings together a carefully edited selection of the most influential and enduring articles on central topics in social and political theory. Essays include Marx, Foucault, and Weber, as well as many other prominent thinkers regarding the state.

Genres: Politics

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1984

About the author

William E. Connolly is a political theorist known for his work on democracy and pluralism. He is the Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. His 1974 work The Terms of Political Discourse won the 1999 Benjamin Lippincott Award
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Reviews

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a collection of essays by a number of great thinkers on the issue of legitimacy and the state, including Marx, Weber, Lipset, Foucault, Connolly, Habermas, Ricoeur etc. Connolly successfully weaves together a series discussions that speak to each other, each convincing the reader on the pertinence, dilemmas, paradox, resolvability, and intractability of the issue of legitimacy. While the texts aren’t easy read by themselves, the book manages to arrange them in a way that allow each essay to strengthen if not challenge the other, providing a picture that is more comprehensive, albeit complex, by the time the reader gets to the end. Connolly’s introduction is helpful in its induction and tracing of the debate, something I appreciated as these essays were all written for contexts outside of this book. Interestingly, none of the essays read dated. In fact, one would be forgiven for mistaking them as rumination about the contemporary world. Habermas’s depiction of the legitimation crisis in advanced capitalism, Weber’s discussion of politics as a vocation, Schaar’s nostalgia for lost authorities in an age of rationality, Foucault’s deconstructive view of power, are all delightfully cogent to today’s widespread sense of crises and rudderless. Tells you something about the care taken to compile this book. Tells you why you should read this book if you are looking for a primer to discuss one of the most enduring issues in political science and theory.