The Global Process of Legitimation and the Legitimacy of Global Governance

Abstract

It is now increasingly acknowledged amongst both scholars and practitioners of international law that the international legal system posits a body of norms which constitute a collective barometer. This measure is useful in the evaluation of the legitimacy of governments and of governance. As the author has argued elsewhere, this barometer consists of minimum norms which favor popular participation in· governance, anti-genocide, anti-slavery, and anti-colonialism. Together these norms set a minimum standard for those who exercise political power in the domestic sphere.