Legitimation
Encyclopedia
Legitimation or legitimization is the act of providing legitimacy
Legitimacy
Legitimacy, from the Latin word legitimare , may refer to:* Legitimacy * Legitimacy of standards* Legitimacy * Legitimate expectation* Legitimate peripheral participation* Legitimate theater* Legitimation...

. Legitimation in the social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...

 refers to the process whereby an act, process, or ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...

 becomes legitimate by its attachment to norms
Norm (sociology)
Social norms are the accepted behaviors within a society or group. This sociological and social psychological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit...

 and values within in given society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...

. It is the process of making something acceptable and normative to a group or audience
Audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...

.

Legitimate power is the right to exercise control over others by virtue of the authority
Authority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...

 of one's superior organization position or status.

Power and influence

For example, the legitimation of power can be understood using Max Weber
Max Weber
Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...

's traditional bases of power. In a bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...

, people gain legitimate use of power by their positions in which it is widely agreed that the specified person hold authority . There is no inherent right to wield power. For example,a president can exercise power and authority because the position is fully legitimated by society as a whole.
In another example, if an individual attempts to convince others that something is "right", they can invoke generally accepted arguments that support their agenda
Political agenda
A political agenda is a set of issues and policies laid out by an executive or cabinet in government that tries to influence current and near-future political news and debate....

. Advocacy group
Advocacy group
Advocacy groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy; they have played and continue to play an important part in the development of political and social systems...

s must legitimate their courses of action based on invoking specific social norms and values. Invoking these norms and values allows the group to proceed in a rational and coherent manner with the expectation that their subsequent behavior is legitimated by the norms and values which guide their organizations.

Family law

Legitimation can also be used as a legal term where a father of a child born out of wedlock becomes the child's legal father. Prior to legitimation, the child is said to be illegitimate. Once a child has been legitimated, he or she is entitled to all of the benefits from that father as he or she would if that man had been married to the child's mother at the time of the child's birth. The father is responsible for providing support to the child and the child is entitled to inherit from the father.

Canon Law

Legitimation is a term in Roman Catholic canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...

 to remove the canonical irregularity of illegitimacy for candidates for the priesthood.
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