Everyday Legitimacy and International Administration: Global Governance and Local Legitimacy in Kosovo

Abstract

Abstract International administrations are a very specific form of statebuilding. This article examines the limits illustrated by the experience in Kosovo. Here, the international administration faced the same requirements of any legitimate, liberal government, but without the checks and balances normally associated with liberal governance. Thus, the international administration was granted full authority and the power thereby associated, but without the legitimacy upon which the liberal social contract rests. The statebuilding agenda put forth came to be seen as more exogenous, reinforcing the delegitimization process. This article specifically addresses the influence of the Weberian approach to legitimacy on the statebuilding literature, as well as its limits. It then proposes other possible avenues for statebuilding, more in line with a wider understanding of legitimacy and intervention.