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

Altermark, Niklas LU ; Ivanovska Hadjievska, Milka LU and Johansson, Håkan LU (2023) In British Journal of Politics and International Relations 25(4). p.758-788
Abstract
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)... (More)
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. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
British Journal of Politics and International Relations
volume
25
issue
4
pages
31 pages
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85141437376
ISSN
1369-1481
DOI
10.1177/13691481221129390
project
Civil society elites? Comparing elite composition, reproduction, integration and contestation in European civil societies
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e5bc4e4c-7e7f-48d9-91bf-81b8035c65d7
date added to LUP
2022-11-01 19:32:58
date last changed
2024-01-09 15:47:55
@article{e5bc4e4c-7e7f-48d9-91bf-81b8035c65d7,
  abstract     = {{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.}},
  author       = {{Altermark, Niklas and Ivanovska Hadjievska, Milka and Johansson, Håkan}},
  issn         = {{1369-1481}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{758--788}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{British Journal of Politics and International Relations}},
  title        = {{Personalisation at the top of civil societies? Legitimation claims on civil society elites in Europe}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13691481221129390}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/13691481221129390}},
  volume       = {{25}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}