Legitimate rule, sovereignty and transnational democracy

Abstract

ABSTRACT Beginning with a critical discussion of Max Weber’s concept of legitimate rule, this article explores the interplay between national and transnational democracy, the authoritarian degeneration of many democratic states such as Hungary, often with a rhetoric of national sovereignty, and the prospects for extending transnational democracy in the European Union. Europe is trusted more than their national state by most Europeans, but governance at both levels is threatened by populist challenges.