Perspectives on Political Legitimacy

Perspectives on Political Legitimacy

Central European University, Vienna, November 26-27, 2026

Few would deny that legitimacy and legitimate rule are among key theoretical challenges of contemporary societies. Yet, across the vastly different approaches to these concepts (descriptive, realist, epistemic, Weberian, legal-theoretic, democratic, Rawlsian, public-reason, and others), it remains an open question to what extent these traditions ask the same questions or address the same underlying concerns.

The aim of the workshop is to bring different approaches to political legitimacy into conversation and to explore where they intersect. By bringing perspectives that are not always in direct dialogue into the same room, the workshop seeks to identify points of convergence, shared problems, productive disagreements, and possibilities for conceptual exchange.

We therefore invite contributions that explore topics related to political legitimacy, legitimate rule, authority, or democracy, regardless of theoretical tradition or perspective.

If interested, please send abstracts of around 300 words to [email protected]. The deadline for submissions is October 20, 2026. The decision to accept the applications will be made and communicated no later than October 25th, 2026.