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Law and Politics
Reference:
Zaseeva, A.S., Ivanova, M.I. (2022). The Problem of the Legitimacy of the Political Elite. Law and Politics, 8, 28–36. https://doi.org/10.7256/2454-0706.2022.8.38613
The Problem of the Legitimacy of the Political Elite
Zaseeva Anastasiya Sergeevna
ORCID: 0000-0001-7914-5859
Lecturer of the Department of State Regulation of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia
76 Vernadsky Avenue, Moscow, 119454, Russia
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bukhanovas@gmail.com
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Other publications by this author
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Ivanova Mariya Igorevna
ORCID: 0000-0002-8586-4160
Lecturer of the Department of Public Administration of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia
76 Prospekt Vernadskogo str., Moscow, 119454, Russia
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masha-ivanova90@bk.ru
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Other publications by this author
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DOI: 10.7256/2454-0706.2022.8.38613
EDN: VJTRNH
Received:
13-08-2022
Published:
31-08-2022
Abstract:
The object of this study is the problem of the legitimacy of the political elite. The subject of the study is the views of a number of Western and domestic researchers on the political elite. The study aims to generalize the views of theorists from different countries and periods of time regarding the qualities of the political elite as a legitimizing foundation. The dialectical method, which was used in the analysis of the categories of "political elite" and "legitimacy," their essence and interrelation, played a decisive role in achieving the goal of this study. This method has become key in understanding the texts of the works under study. The method of system-structural analysis allowed us to explore the views of the philosophers in question holistically—when the authors' positions complement each other and create a general picture of the understanding of the legitimacy of the political elite. The conclusion of the study is as follows: in the modern world, the main method of legitimizing the political elite is a democratic election procedure, but the choice of citizens should be based on a clear idea of the qualities of a political leader, confidence that the candidate has serious professional competencies, as well as deep moral convictions and moral principles. This will help to avoid falling under the power of amateurs who put their incompetence and lack of values, stability, and security in society at risk. The result of the study of the ideas of domestic and Western philosophers is the confirmation of the judgment that the legitimate political elite should be considered people with high moral and spiritual values acquired or consolidated as a result of traditional upbringing, classical education, military service, and long-term work experience in the social and political sphere.
Keywords:
legitimacy, political elite, political power, society, state, politics, vocation, moral values, legitimation, the aristocracy of the spirit
This article written in Russian. You can find original text of the article here
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Peer Review
Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.
The subject of the peer-reviewed study was the problem of legitimacy in relation to political elites. This problem will not lose its relevance as long as some form of dependence of political elites on the rest of the population exists, since the justification of the right to power is one of the main problems of political elites. Unfortunately, the author says practically nothing about the methodology used in the research process. From the context, one can see the application of systemic and structural-functional approaches, as well as conceptual-analytical ones. But, perhaps, the most problematic method in the reviewed work is the normative one (in the sense of "normative-philosophical", and not the more traditional for modern social sciences "normative-institutional"). Unlike other methods, the use of normative is declared several times in the text of the article. This method is problematic because social sciences have been trying to get rid of the influence of this method on the results of their research for the last more than a hundred years. Simply put, the essence of the normative method is that a certain phenomenon (or, more correctly, a conceptual idea of the phenomenon) is declared the norm to which reality must correspond. This is not a scientific approach, but a philosophical one. Socio-philosophical, political-philosophical, etc. And it is quite widespread, including in foreign social research. Philosophical research. For science, this is more a regression than a development. Nevertheless, it seems quite useful to discuss the applicability of such an approach to the phenomenon of legitimacy. This can be attributed to the presence of scientific novelty in the reviewed work. The attempt to defend the right to use the normative method in relation to the problem of legitimacy, as well as the emphasis on the need to explore the legitimacy of political elites, bypassing the mediating concept of power, despite some discussion (as discussed below), has some signs of novelty and deserve to be discussed in the domestic scientific community. The structure of the article is quite logical, although it would be more obvious if the author had titled the main structural elements. The text highlights the introductory and final parts, as well as several substantive sections. The first substantive section analyzes the basic concepts ("legitimacy", "elite", "political elite", "legitimacy of the political elite", etc.), in the second – through the analysis of the works of classics on the problem under study, the normative elements of the concept of "legitimacy of the political elite" are revealed. The style of work also does not raise any questions. The text is written quite competently, in a good language, with correct (with some exceptions) use of scientific terminology. However, the use of some terms raises questions. In particular, the term "charisma" is used in a very original way, which the author attributes to the political elite. While in the scientific tradition, this term has always been associated with leadership and, accordingly, with a specific person, and not with a social group. Theoretically, of course, it is possible to allow the application of this term to such an amorphous phenomenon as the elite, imagining a relatively small society in which the population believes that the elite has some extraordinary qualities and abilities, but outside the context of religious communities, this seems very difficult. So the specifics of the author's use of the term "charisma" are somewhat problematic. Although it is impossible to unequivocally deny the author the right to such use of the term. After all, in the social sciences and humanities, it was the shift in the meanings of traditional concepts that often led to the acquisition of new knowledge. This is exactly the kind of conceptual move the author is trying to make with the two key concepts of "legitimacy" and "political elite". The reviewed article rightly points out that most studies of the problem of legitimacy have the legitimacy of power as their object. The author also proposes to directly investigate the problem of the legitimacy of the political elite, removing an intermediate link from the conceptual scheme into the concepts of power. To what extent such a move is justified, one can argue. In the traditional scheme, it is assumed that the bearers (or, more strictly, the senders of power) are elites, leaders, institutions, etc. Accordingly, speaking about the legitimacy of power, it is implied that the legitimacy of political elites is part of the problem of the legitimacy of power in general. What is the point of narrowing this problem, limiting it to the elite, is not entirely clear. Nevertheless, this conceptual move contains some innovation, and therefore it can be discussed. The bibliography contains 13 sources, including three works in English, and sufficiently represents the state of affairs in the field under study. Although it could be SIGNIFICANTLY expanded due to a number of classic works for the topic under study. For example, the works of G. Almond, D. Powell, S. Verba, etc. The appeal to opponents runs like a red thread through the entire article, given its general polemical nature. GENERAL CONCLUSION: the article submitted for review can be qualified as a scientific work that meets all the basic requirements for works of this kind. Despite some discussion of the author's conclusions, the reviewer considers it possible and useful to propose these conclusions for discussion. The results obtained by the author will be of interest to political scientists, sociologists, specialists in the field of public administration and political management, as well as students of the listed specialties. The presented material generally corresponds to the subject of the journal "Law and Politics". Based on the results of the review, the article is recommended for publication.
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