East Asian Perspectives on Political Legitimacy
Bridging the Empirical-Normative Divide

A key exploration of political legitimacy in East Asian societies undertaken by normative political theorists and empirical political scientists.

Joseph Chan (Edited by), Doh Chull Shin (Edited by), Melissa S. Williams (Edited by)

9781107595873, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 November 2017

279 pages, 17 b/w illus. 18 tables
23 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.5 kg

What makes a government legitimate? Why do people voluntarily comply with laws, even when no one is watching? The idea of political legitimacy captures the fact that people obey when they think governments' actions accord with valid principles. For some, what matters most is the government's performance on security and the economy. For others, only a government that follows democratic principles can be legitimate. Political legitimacy is therefore a two-sided reality that scholars studying the acceptance of governments need to take into account. The diversity and backgrounds of East Asian nations provides a particular challenge when trying to determine the level of political legitimacy of individual governments. This book brings together both political philosophers and political scientists to examine the distinctive forms of political legitimacy that exist in contemporary East Asia. It is essential reading for all academic researchers of East Asian government, politics and comparative politics.

1. Political legitimacy in East Asia: bridging normative and empirical analysis Melissa S. Williams, Joseph Chan and Doh Chull Shin
2. Reasons to obey: 'multiple modernities' and constructions of political legitimacy Melissa S. Williams
3. Do East Asian states enjoy a legitimacy premium? Bruce Gilley
4. Political legitimacy in China: a Confucian approach Daniel A. Bell
5. Political legitimacy in Hong Kong: a hybrid notion Wai-man Lam
6. The evolution of political legitimacy in Singapore: electoral institutions, governmental performance, moral authority, and meritocracy Kenneth Paul Tan and Benjamin Wong
7. Polarized politics, government legitimacy and democratic legitimacy in Taiwan Min-Hua Huang
8. The legitimacy of democratic rule in Korea: from the perspective of the mass citizenry Doh Chull Shin and Youngho Cho
9. Political legitimacy, satisfaction, and Japanese democracy Benjamin Nyblade
10. Legitimacy as a hybrid phenomenon Leigh Jenco.

Subject Areas: Comparative law [LAM], Comparative politics [JPB], Politics & government [JP]