A government is said to be legitimate when it is accepted/recognized by the public or its citizens as proper and right. Illegitimate government earns no recognition, acceptance and confidence from the members of the public.
The degree of legitimacy depends on the public’s confidence in the electoral body, the relationship between the government and its people and the norms/values of the existing system of governance. Political legitimacy is high when the government or the state relates well with its people (Smith, 2011).
Egypt is one of the African countries that have recently faced problems concerning the legitimacy of Hosni Mobarak’s government. For many decades, the government has been reluctant in enhancing democracy with most of the political parties’ acts being curtailed.
Following this series of coerce events, the people of Egypt together with the army and the international community decided to seek change in government on grounds that the existing government was not doing enough to enhance democracy.
There are various elements of political legitimacy that are relevant to the understanding of the nature of state society relations in Egypt. One of these elements is public confidence and trust in the existing government. Another element that is important when enhancing legitimacy is the rule of law. The manner in which the state relates to the society is very important in determining the long term legitimacy of the state or the government.
Failure to exercise democracy and public participation led to collapse of the former Egyptian government (Trudy, 2011). I think that democratic modes of government are sufficiently embedded and form part and parcel of political legitimacy in any government, regime or state. In addition, political legitimacy is a matter that should be taken into great consideration by all authorities and powers in place.
References
Smith, R. (2011). Political developments in Egypt. Political review Journal, 9(3), 17–29.
Trudy, A. (2011). Political legitimacy in Egypt: The quest for moral authority. Stanford: Stanford University Press.