Today’s Political Puzzle: Hierarchy, Equality and Legitimacy

Abstract

I proceed in four steps. First, I indicate what is to be understood by hierarchy and equality and the different areas in which this understanding can be at play. Second, I highlight that in the current era, it is through the mediation of equality that hierarchy is mainly apprehended. Third, I analyze how the relations between hierarchy and equality and their respective importance are connected with what passes for legitimacy and can vary with the context. Fourth, I focus on the principles or criteria, based on what actors now tend to see as just, that help to establish the right balance between hierarchy and equality. From the extent to which the institutions and actors in position of power take these principles/criteria seriously depends the extent to which they are viewed as legitimate.