Thilo Sarrazins "Deutschland schafft sich ab" ist eines der meistverkauften Bücher der deutschen Nachkriegszeit. Es ist viel darüber diskutiert worden, ob der Text rassistisch, sozialdarwinistisch oder diffamierend ist und was die hohen Verkaufszahlen über die deutsche Gesellschaft aussagen....

Power, rule, and legitimacy have always been core concerns of political science. In the 1970s, when governability appeared to be problematic, legitimacy was discussed both in the context of policy research and by critics of the capitalist state. More recently interest turned to governance beyond...

In order to be simultaneously effective and liberal, governments must normally be able to count on voluntary compliance - which, in turn, depends on the support of socially shared legitimacy beliefs. In Western constitutional democracies, such beliefs are derived from the distinct but coexistent...

The function of legitimacy is to ensure voluntary compliance with unwelcome exercises of governing authority. Since practically all European law needs to be implemented and enforced by the governments and courts of the member states, the EU does not have to face its citizens directly. It follows...