Myths of Membership
The Politics of Legitimation in UN Security Council Reform
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12430737 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ian Hurd (0000-0002-8806-3449, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 199-217 |
| Publication date | 2008-08-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Global Governance A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1075-2846 • E-ISSN: 1942-6720 |
| Publisher | Lynne Rienner Publishers (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1163/19426720-01402006 |
| OpenAlex | W1689151330 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 28 |
| References cited | 8 |
The need to expand the UN Security Council is usually justified as necessary to update Council membership in light of changes in world politics. The mismatch between the existing membership and the increasingly diverse population of states is said to delegitimatize the Council. This rests on an implicit hypothesis about the source of institutional legitimacy. This article surveys reform proposals and finds five distinct claims about the connection between membership and legitimacy, each of which is either logically inconsistent or empirically implausible. If formal membership is indeed the key to institutional legitimacy, the causal link remains at best indeterminate, and we may have to look elsewhere for a theory of legitimation. We must also look for explanations for why the language of legitimation is so prevalent in the rhetoric of Council reform
Law and economics · Legitimacy · Legitimation · Political science · Politics · Rhetoric · Security council · Sociology · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Development and Aid · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Public Administration
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The Political Economy of the United Nations Security Council
Setting Status in Stone
Hindered Reform
Unpacking the Bureaucratic Representation–Legitimacy Relationship in International Organizations
What is the Problem Represented to be in the Group of Four’s Policy on Reform of the United Nations Security Council? – An Argument for Clarity Towards the Global South
The Legitimacy of International Institutions among Rising and Established Powers
The 75th Anniversary of the United Nations
In the name of democracy
Development aid and international politics
Representation and Power in International Organization
China and the United Nations framework convention on climate change
What Are UN General Assembly Resolutions for? Four Views on Parliamentary Diplomacy
The logic of protection
Reforming the United Nations Security Council
The UN Security Council, normative legitimacy and the challenge of specificity
How Great is Britain? Power, Responsibility and Britain's Future Global Role
Do all lives have the same value? Support for international military interventions as a function of political system and public opinion of target states
The African Union Beyond Africa
The fourth face of legitimacy
The politics of inclusion
G-group legitimacy in global governance
South Africa’s Reform Diplomacy and the Legitimacy of the UN Security Council
Explaining elite perceptions of legitimacy in global governance
Can you pass the salt?’ The legitimacy of international institutions and indirect speech
Making sense of citizen desire for IO democracy
The enforcement–exploitation trade-off in international cooperation between weak and powerful states
Can transparency strengthen the legitimacy of international institutions? Evidence from the UN Security Council
| Unique citing works | 28 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,56 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2025 (18) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 27 |