From Power to Legitimacy: Rethinking Authority in Twenty-First Century International Relations

Abstract

Current issues of international relations have seen increased challenges to conventional perceptions of authority that are predominantly premised on material power, with states endowed with considerable military and economic means finding themselves unable to achieve compliance, while lesser entities wielding little power exert considerable influence. The existing literature provides explanations for the nature of authority based on military and economic power without adequately addressing the issue of legitimacy’s importance in building authority at the international level. This paper explores how legitimacy has increasingly become an important source of international authority in the modern world and what the significance of this development is for the international system. This study aims to create an understanding based on the concept of legitimacy and how it impacts the establishment and implementation of international authority in international relations. Based on constructivism, which sees authority as an intersubjective concept that requires recognition, the research uses qualitative conceptual analysis to build a new legitimacy-based framework. The research is based on documentation that comes from a thorough search through peer-reviewed journal articles, academic books, edited collections, theoretical writings, documents of international organizations, policy papers, and treaties via JSTOR, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Out of the total number of around 80 pieces of literature found, 65 pieces of documentation were selected for the purpose of the research, and thematic analysis was conducted on the material. The paper asserts that although material capabilities are still required, they become inadequate to produce legitimate international authority unless complemented by legitimacy resulting from norms, institutions, identities, and acceptance. It explains the dynamics through which the legitimacy from norms, institutions, identities, and performance comes into play along with material capabilities and intersubjectivity to produce legitimate international authority. Three main contributions of the paper include a new conceptualization of international authority based on legitimacy, reconsideration of the power-legitimacy connection, and contribution to constructivist literature on authority in the context of modern times.