General Theory of Legitimacy

Abstract

This paper proposes a General Theory of Legitimacy, a Persistence Science framework for evaluating legitimacy across public policy systems and authority structures. Derived from Persistence Science, the theory proposes that legitimacy emerges from the interaction between Coercion and Public Benefit. Institutional Coercion is modeled through Atomization, Alignment, and Asymmetry. Public Benefit measures the extent to which systems fulfill their intended social purpose. The framework introduces the Coercion Index (IC) and the Legitimacy Score (IL) as diagnostic tools applicable across governments, courts, corporations, universities, religious bodies, and civil society organizations. The theory further proposes that coercive structures increase organizational decay and reduce long-term institutional persistence. By linking legitimacy to Information Control, Persistence Capacity, and the Persistence Index, the framework establishes legitimacy as a measurable persistence-enhancing property of public policy systems.