Global social indicators and the concept of legitimacy

Siems, Mathias; Nelken, David

doi:10.1017/s1744552317000374

Global social indicators and the concept of legitimacy

Siems, Mathias; Nelken, David

Authors

Mathias Siems

David Nelken

Abstract

Global social indicators have become a core point of interest of scholarship in law and other social sciences. The term ‘legitimacy’ is occasionally mentioned in this literature but without in-depth discussion. This paper aims to fill this gap by way of exploring the relationship between global social indicators and the concept of legitimacy. The crucial issue of such indicators is that, being drafted in a general fashion and based on a quantitative metric, they can be regarded as somehow ‘law-like’, thus raising questions about their legitimacy. This paper addresses these issues at both the general level of social theory and the operation of indicators in action.

Citation

Siems, M., & Nelken, D. (2017). Global social indicators and the concept of legitimacy. International Journal of Law in Context, 13(04), 436-449. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1744552317000374

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Nov 7, 2017
Online Publication Date	Jan 3, 2018
Publication Date	Dec 1, 2017
Deposit Date	Jan 28, 2018
Publicly Available Date	Jan 29, 2018
Journal	International Journal of Law in Context
Print ISSN	1744-5523
Electronic ISSN	1744-5531
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	13
Issue	04
Pages	436-449
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/s1744552317000374

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Copyright Statement
This article has been published in a revised form in International Journal of Law in Context https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744552317000374. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © Cambridge University Press 2017.