We view corporate giving as a means by which firms may seek external legitimacy, and propose that, in response to evaluations of external audiences, organizations strategically manage such costs under a tension. Liberal democratic government may trace its roots back past the enlightenment to ancient greece, yet only in the twentieth century has republican government become the rule. Apr 10, 2017 islam, muhammad azizul, csr reporting and legitimacy theory. Of all the ideas central to socialist philosophy and practice, few have been scorned, misunderstood, celebrated or feared more than the idea of the dictatorship of the. The principal objective of this paper is to expand the scope of legitimacy theory lt through a detailed analysis of the links that exist between the legitimising strategies of firms and the characteristics of the political environment in which they are developed. Islam, muhammad azizul, csr reporting and legitimacy theory.
Legitimacy theory has the role of providing an explanation of the disclosure of social, economic, and environmental information. With respect to political theory, a state is perceived as being legitimate when its citizens treat it as properly holding and exercising political power. Such a theory, i want to suggest, represents a plausible alternative to. Some thoughts on legitimacy theory in social and environmental. Legitimacy theory and environmental practices semantic scholar. While the term exists beyond the political realm, as it encompasses sociology, philosophy, and psychology, legitimacy is often referred to with respect to actors, institutions, and the political orders they constitute. There is a moral presumption against the possession or exercise of coercive power, but political power is coercive. Concepts, evidence and implications by thomas donaldson and preston lee. Among these has been legitimacy theory which posits that corporate disclosures are made as reactions to environmental factors and in order to legitimise. The proposed theory extends research on cognitive and sociopolitical legitimacy, reputation, and status by advancing an evaluators perspective on these concepts as forms of social judgment, each addressing a different evaluators question about the. Pdf suchman 1995 legitimacy theory free download pdf.
This notoriety arises from its use by commonwealth courts in analyzing the difficult political and. Legitimacy theory legitimacy theory has its foundations in the theoretical paradigm of political economy. An aspect of legitimacy theory, investigated in this research, is that in order to continue to exist a corporation will act to remain legitimate in the eyes of whom it considers is able to. Legitimacy, popular acceptance of a government, political regime, or system of governance. Literature on the legitimacy theory suggests that an organizations survival largely depends on its legitimation process and on how the organization manages. Defining the legitimacy and power of the state through weber. See gilbert, margaret, a theory of political obligation. This study explores the cost of legitimacy management in the context of corporate giving. Political legitimacy is a virtue of political institutions and of the decisionsabout laws, policies, and candidates for political officemade within them. Pdf legitimacy theory in management accounting research. Whereas authority denotes a specific position in an established government, the term legitimacy denotes a system of governmentwherein government denotes sphere of influence.
Political legitimacy stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Procedural justice, legitimacy, and the effective rule of law abstract legal authorities gain when they receive deference and cooperation from the public. Conceptualizing legitimacy as a thing an asset or characteristic to be gained, increased and lost clearly emphasizes some attributes of a phenomenon at the. Specifically, how much does an organization spend in order to manage external legitimacy. The word legitimacy can be interpreted in either a normative way or a positive see positivism way. There is a lack of research into framework of legitimacy theory. This entry will survey the main answers that have been given to the following questions. Legitimacy theory is based on the idea that a social contract exists between business and society. An authority viewed as legitimate often has the right and justification to exercise power. The theory is builds upon the social perception work of fritz heider and his theories on balance and attribution. Is it primarily a descriptive or a normative concept. In our conception, legitimacy theory has the role of explaining the behavior of organizations in implementing and developing voluntary social and. Legitimacy is a value whereby something or someone is recognized and accepted as right and proper. Moral right to rule locke and consent social contrast theory we consent to be governed.
The legitimacy theory and csr disclosure accounting essay. Underlying organizational legitimacy is a process, legitimation, by which an organization seeks approval or. According to legitimacy theory, companies disclose social responsibility information to present a socially responsible image so that they can legitimize their behaviours to their stakeholder groups. The main aim of this thesis was to refine and develop legitimacy theory as an explanation for voluntary corporate envirormiental disclosures in the armual report.
Accordingly, we apply rawls social contract theory to evaluate the legitimacy of shareholder primacy as manifest through the voting rights of shareholders and assess whether this principle of governance would be endorsed or the stakeholder equality norm, a competing. Legitimacy question discuss the relationship between power, authority and legitimacy give the max weber contribution to the theory of power. Such theories view political authority as legitimate only if those governed. The study provides evidence to show that the 2002 special issue was significant within the context of aaaj, and also within the context of the evolution of the social and environmental accounting literature. Social disclosure, legitimacy theory and the role of the. Legitimacy theory relies on the notion that there is a social contract between a company and the society in which it operates deegan 2000. The political economy paradigm suggests that the economic sphere may not be deliberated in separation from the political, social and institutional framework in which the economy is positioned gray et al. Democratization in the late twentieth century, 1991, university of oklahoma press. This chapter offers a general theory of institutional legitimacy, the metacoordination view, according to which legitimacy assessments are best understood as being part of a social practice aimed at achieving consensus on whether an institution is worthy of our moral reasonbased supportsupport not dependent solely on the fear of coercion or on a perfect fit between our own interests and. Some thoughts on future research agenda april 6, 2017. Legitimacy definition is the quality or state of being legitimate. Despite its enduring popularity and contribution, time is right for a necessary makeover. Question discuss the relationship between power, authority. Pdf legitimacy theory is one of the most discussed theories to explain the phenomenon of voluntary social and environmental disclosures in.
If there is a formal constitutional basis, we can see legitimacy. How do states accomplish the task of ensuring that its people will obey its. The first meaning refers to political philosophy and deals with questions such as. Suchman 1995 legitimacy theory november, 2017 author. It considers benefitbased, meritbased, and willbased theories of state legitimacy. Oct 22, 2019 this study explores the cost of legitimacy management in the context of corporate giving.
Dec 02, 2019 the description of the history of the development of legitimacy theory, and of the theorys subsequent application, provides a solid impetus for future refinements to the theory. An actfocused theory of political legitimacy by justin. Political st shows how state policies influence stakeholder legitimacy and, in turn, affect an industrys ethical challenges. Legitimacy theory is based on the idea that a social contract exists between business. In political science, legitimacy usually is understood as the popular acceptance and recognition by the public of the authority of a governing regime, whereby authority has political power through consent and mutual understandings, not coercion.
In our theory a policy choice is legitimate if the process through which the final choice was determined is consistent with some principle that can be used to perhaps partially. Legitimacy definition of legitimacy by merriamwebster. Legitimacy theory is derived from the concept of organisational legitimacy, which has been defined by dowling and pfeffer 1975, p. Legitimacy political, norm social, value ethics, max weber, evaluation report this link download pdf. This chapter addresses the problem of legitimacy that of morally justifying the way a state exercises monopoly power over its adult, ableminded, more or less permanently resident members that every state poses and looks at different grounds on which a state might be thought to be legitimate. This article develops a political stakeholder theory political st by weaving together the political economy, stakeholder theory, and legitimacy literatures. I shall label the theory of legitimacy grounded on the defence of the idea of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Importantly, i end this section by discussing the work in political theory on agonism to reafirm that legitimacy can often develop out of contestation. The description of the history of the development of legitimacy theory, and of the theorys subsequent application, provides a solid impetus for future refinements to.
In our conception, legitimacy theory has the role of explaining the behavior of organizations in. Links to power and authority by transforming the former into the latter turns naked power into authority. David beethams book explores the legitimation of power both as an issue in political and social science theory and in relation to the legitimacy of contemporary political systems including its breakd. Extensive empirical research found that there are at least five important dimensions of political legitimacy. The paper is mainly concerned with a bringing some coherence to the framework of legitimacy theory and corporate environmental practices. Various rationales have been advanced to explain the phenomenon of corporate social reporting. This book is a study of the political process inside the international typographical. Authority, legitimacy, and the obligation to obey the law volume 24 issue 2 richard dagger. Procedural justice, legitimacy, and the effective rule of law. Hopton hans kelsens pure theory of law and its doctrine of the grundnorm has achieved a certain notoriety rather removed from its contribution to jurisprudence as such. Importantly, i end this section by discussing the work in political theory on agonism to reafirm that. Considerable evidence suggests that the key factor shaping public behavior is the fairness of the processes legal authorities use when dealing with members of the public.
Weber claims that the states legitimacy rests on the chance that people will follow its commands as a given source of power. Considerable evidence suggests that the key factor shaping public behavior is the fairness of the processes legal authorities use. T eoria legitymizacji w b badaniach rachunkowo a ci zarz e dczej nades i any. Legitimacy theory may provide useful insights for corporate social and environmental. Corporate social responsibility and the legitimacy of the. It is a theory originating during the age of enlightenment, that typically addresses the questions of the origin of society and the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. Fortunately, in the last few years it has become more common to assume that democratic legitimacy or support for democracy is a multidimensional phenomenon. Indeed, it is probable that legitimacy theory is the most widely used theory to explain environmental and social disclosures campbell, craven and shrives, 2003, p.