Legitimacy and Legitimization in Low Turnout Ballots

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6265502
AutoresChristopher Kirkland (0000-0003-0759-3104), Matthew Wood (0000-0002-0433-2972)
Año2017
Volumen52
Número3
Páginas511-531
Fecha de publicación2017-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaGovernment and Opposition (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0017-257X • E-ISSN: 1477-7053
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/gov.2015.36
OpenAlexW2237284719
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas19

Declining voter turnout has been highlighted as problematic for a number of western democracies. However, in this article we argue that whether an election is seen as ‘legitimate’ or not depends crucially upon interpretations of the levels of turnout by elite actors. Through comparing two recent democratic ballots in the UK we demonstrate how elections with lower turnouts can come to be seen as holding more legitimacy than those with higher turnouts. The cases demonstrate, we argue, a distinction between actual legitimacy, defined as a binary concept, and the process of legitimization – a process through which the authority of an institution is discursively constructed and conferred. This suggests a new research agenda which extends beyond the current literature to focus upon how the legitimacy of a ballot is socially constructed in a broader context of unequal socioeconomic power relations

Ballot · Context (archaeology · Democracy · Democratic legitimacy · Elite · Geography · Institution · Legitimacy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Turnout · Voting · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Public Administration