Personalisation at the top of civil societies? Legitimation claims on civil society elites in Europe

Niklas Altermark, Milka Ivanovska Hadjievska, Håkan Johansson

Forskningsoutput: TidskriftsbidragArtikel i vetenskaplig tidskriftPeer review

Sammanfattning

Top civil society organisations (CSOs) face a particular legitimacy dilemma as they need to have leaders who are seen as legitimate by the elite groups they interact with, and by those they represent. This article investigates how they handle this dilemma by studying legitimation practices of newly appointed leaders. Based on Weber’s theory of authority and Pitkin’s theory of representation, the article investigates 114 public announcements of governance leaders in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the EU. The article finds a common model of civil society elite legitimation beyond national differences. The observed model draws on two types of claims: promoting leaders as excellent and astounding professional leaders (charismatic authority) and as able spokespersons (substantive representation). Major European CSOs hence legitimate their leaders as being ‘on par with’ other top leaders, as an elite among other elite groups, similar to trends of personalisation in politics and business.
Originalspråkengelska
Sidor (från-till)758-788
Antal sidor31
TidskriftBritish Journal of Politics and International Relations
Volym25
Nummer4
Tidigt onlinedatum2022 okt. 31
DOI
StatusPublished - 2023

Ämnesklassifikation (UKÄ)

  • Statsvetenskap (exklusive studier av offentlig förvaltning och globaliseringsstudier)

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