The concept of legitimation and the legal order: A response to Hyde's critique

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Abstract
The concept of legitimation has been widely invoked in the study of law, justice, and illegality. Law professor Alan Hyde has formulated a thorough and provocative critique of the use of this concept, especially in the legal realm. He calls for the abandonment of the concept in favor of alternative concepts, such as rational self-interest; he suggests that claims regarding the existence of legitimacy do not lend themselves to empirical verification. The present paper systematically examines Hyde's principal themes, and raises some objections to them. The enduring relevance of the concept of legitimation for understanding legal phenomena is brought out; rather than abandoning this concept one should more clearly delineate between the different uses of it. The concept of legitimation provides a unifying point for the consideration of normative and empirical dimensions of legal order.