The problem of the legitimacy object in socio-legal research

Abstract

Although traditionally a political science topic, in the last three decades legitimacy has become a subject of interest for researchers in the field of sociology of law who deal with the issue of compliance with law. Significant differences among researchers in this field, initially concerning the definition of legitimacy and subsequently its operationalization, frequently result in the inability to compare findings across various studies. To establish a more coherent conceptual and methodological framework for future socio-legal research on legitimacy, we identified three areas with the greatest ambiguity: 1. object of legitimacy, 2. operationalization of legitimacy in empirical research, and 3. sources of legitimacy. This paper aims to examine the first question. It employs conceptual analysis as a method to explore the objects of legitimacy relevant to legal behavior studies. Through a review of theoretical literature and notable empirical studies, the paper asserts that legitimacy can be attributed to three distinct objects: 1. institutions, 2. officials, and 3. legal acts. We can speak of institutional legitimacy the authority that implements the law is the one towards which the support of the relevant public is directed, which is why people feel compelled to obey its directives. The legitimacy of officials signifies the support directed toward individuals occupying institutional positions and their particular policies. Legal acts may be legitimate for both substantive and formal reasons. Substantive legitimacy of legal acts arises when the public agrees with the content of their norms. In the case formal legitimacy of legal acts, individuals may feel obligated to adhere to laws and other legal acts due to their formal validity, meaning they were enacted by the competent authority in the prescribed procedure. These three legitimations intertwine and condition each other, which is why they need to be studied in interaction. Since compliance with law can derive from the legitimacy of different objects, it is important for socio-legal studies to empirically explore, within each context, legitimacy of which object serves as the primary motivator for behavior, along with explaining their interplay.