The Populist Challenge to Political Legitimacy: A Crisis of Social Validation and Grounding
The Populist Challenge to Political Legitimacy: A Crisis of Social Validation and Grounding

Summary/Abstract: This article argues that the challenges to political legitimacy currently encountered by liberal democracies affected by populist anti-centrism have created a crisis of theoretical understanding amongst philosophers where politics is concerned. Drawing loosely on recent work involving the concept of “grounding”, it examines the implications of construing political legitimation as either internally self-validating or externally/strategically validated. On this basis it is then argued that the competing claims made by recent and contemporary political thinkers reflect common underlying assumptions that put them radically at odds with the perspective of those now embracing political populism. As a consequence, the latter find themselves excluded from any justifications for preferring certain sorts of political institution – such as liberal-democratic ones – over others.

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