Perhaps the most important source of legitimacy in a democracy is that leaders are chosen by the people and have their consent to rule, albeit in coalition governments. However, governments also need to maintain the consent of the people if they want to stay in power. Below are seven important ideas that maintain the consent of the people in a democracy:

Equality

Democracy is based on the idea that all eligible citizens have the same rights to vote and to run for office. This means that decisions will represent the interests of all citizens. It also means that political authority is open to all eligible citizens and the candidates who get the most votes gain the authority to make political decisions. Since all citizens have the same political rights in a democracy, this builds legitimacy since all are permitted to take part in decision making.

Free and Fair Elections

Representatives in a democracy must gain, and maintain the consent of the people to make decisions on their behalf. Regular elections make sure that there is a system for citizens to express their consent (or lack of it). This builds legitimacy since the process by which political decision are made reflect the interests and preferences of the citizens themselves.

Accountability

An important feature of democracies is that they make leaders accountable to the people. If a leader rules in a corrupt or ineffective way, then people will not vote for them again in the next election. Apart from elections, some political systems have legal procedures for removing a leader from power (“impeachment”) if they break certain rules or lose their popularity. These procedures build legitimacy because the people know that the government has to work hard and be honest if it wants to stay in power.

Transparency

Transparency means that information about the activities, policies, and budgets of the government is freely available to the people. Without transparency, governments can avoid being accountable because they can hide their mistakes or corruption from the people. Forcing leaders and governments to produce documents that prove that they are serving the people is an important way to increase the legitimacy of a government. Transparency makes it harder for the government to manipulate and lie to the people. This builds trust in the government and helps it to maintain the consent of the people.

Participation

Political systems that are based on public participation are considered legitimate because they actively involve the people in running their own country. These systems allow the people to criticize politicians, suggest laws, vote in elections and defend their interests. Through these actions, citizens share the responsibility for making sure that governments are doing their job well. Participation builds legitimacy because the people are responsible for creating the kind of government that they want.

Tolerance and compromise

Democracies manage diversity by working together to find solutions that all citizens can agree with. Being tolerant of ideas or beliefs that you disagree with is a very important part of making this compromise work. Through finding consensus, and a shared commitment to the common good, democracies make sure that public policy does not exclude or discriminate against minorities or marginalized groups. This builds legitimacy by giving all groups a stake in democracy.

The Rule of Law

In a democracy, government power must stay within the limits set by the law. The principle of the rule of law means that no one is above the law. This includes the leader, all ministers, government workers and all other officials. The principle of the rule of law also means that everyone is equal under the law. Everyone is subject to the same rules and the same punishment if they break the law. It does not matter if a poor person or a wealthy person breaks the law – everyone is treated the same (McLaughlin 2013: 35).

Political Parties and Democratic Legitimacy

Political parties are important actors in channeling and aggregating political demands. Different political parties have identifiable political programs and deep-rooted support in society. This allows them to represent the preferences and interest of democratic citizens and provide them with more opportunities to hold elected officials to account.

By providing links between citizens and government policy, parties play a crucial role in building the legitimacy of a democratic system since it makes sure that citizens have the means to achieve a stake in politics. It also makes sure that government policies are responsive to the needs of the people since electoral competition ensures that the party programme(s) that gain traction in government will be those that best reflect the needs and concerns of the majority of the citizens.

Political parties contribute to democratic legitimacy by assuring voters that party discipline will limit the chance that candidates will vote in ways that exceed their mandate. A great challenge of representative democracy is that citizens need to make important decisions about candidates based on limited knowledge about their values, beliefs, and likely behavior. Political parties can reduce the risk that candidates will exceed their mandate or break their promises once they are elected. By enabling citizens to vote according to identifiable sets of policy programs, socioeconomic interests, and values, political parties can make sure that politicians are bound to specific goals and commitments (and disciplined if they do not).

Political parties also build democratic legitimacy by providing a unique path for citizens to take part in government. This could be either directly (by standing as a candidate for office) or indirectly by being a part of the party mechanism that either develops or influences government policy. Furthermore, democratic political parties have structures that promote a shared vision amongst those party members who are in government. By providing opportunities for participation and making sure that participation is based on shared values and common goals, political parties contribute greatly to strengthening democratic legitimacy. Political parties in the transition from an Authoritarian to Democratic System of Government Political parties have played a major role in many countries’ transitions from authoritarian to democratic government. They established regional networks, developed relationships with social movements and civil society organizations, developed and implemented strategies for democratization, and mobilized international support.

Furthermore, parties play a crucial role in the democratic elections that are often one of the most important steps in the democratization process. Parties select and support candidates, they organize and conduct electoral campaigns; they develop programmes for electoral competition and governance and mediate conflict among political allies. Once in power, political parties can promote the legitimacy of the new government by making sure that the government does not lose touch with their popular base.

Political Parties in the Transition from an Authoritarian to Democratic

System of Government

Political parties have played a major role in many countries’ transitions from authoritarian to democratic government. They established regional networks, developed relationships with social movements and civil society organizations, developed and implemented strategies for democratization, and mobilized international support.

Furthermore, parties play a crucial role in the democratic elections that are often one of the most important steps in the democratization process. Parties select and support candidates, they organize and conduct electoral campaigns; they develop programmes for electoral competition and governance and mediate conflict among political allies. Once in power, political parties can promote the legitimacy of the new government by making sure that the government does not lose touch with their popular base. In many countries, leaders played an important role in the transition to democracy by building the capacity of political parties.

Their priorities were to reform laws that limited the registration of political parties, to increase parties’ access to the media and party finance and helped to build bridges between groups or parties who in conflict and to develop distinguishable programs. In many cases, this involved developing electoral rules and procedures to help parties avoid fragmentation, and to enable parties to broaden and institutionalize their support. Often this involves establishing structures and rules that promote intraparty democracy. Parties cannot function effectively if the focus is solely on the leader. Decentralizing power within the party, makes a party more inclusive as it allows the party to better represent the various groups of people they might wish to attract (youth, women, different economic groups and/or ethnic groups).

For example, Ernesto Zedillo, from Mexico’s long-ruling PRI party, played an important role in Mexico’s transition by supporting reforms that created more favorable conditions for opposition parties, helping them become strong enough to compete with the PRI. He also introduced primary elections as the means of choosing the PRI presidential candidate, thus ‘cutting off his finger (dedo)’ to end the dedocracia (“rule of the finger”) by which Mexican presidents had personally chosen their successors for more than six decades. (Lowenthal and Bitar 2015:34)