On the Legitimacy of International Institutions

Abstract

In the draft paper I prepared before coming to grand old Heidelberg to participate in this conference, I began by taking the position that the word “legitimate” was hopelessly ambiguous. It seemed to be trying to occupy a space between “lawful” and “unlawful”, yet that space is hard to measure or even imagine. Of course the ambiguity can be removed by eliminating the space — by stipulating that “lawful” and “legitimate” are synonymous. Black’s Law Dictionary tells us simply that “legitimate” is that which is “lawful, legal, recognized by law, or according to law.” Simple, but not helpful.