What is the Human Legitimacy Principle?
The Human Legitimacy Principle states:
Political legitimacy is advanced by developing policies that are consistent with all of humanity having an equal opportunity to benefit. The word benefit in the previous sentence is confined to outcomes consistent with human development.
The Human Legitimacy Principle enshrines the need for respect for our fellow human beings into an active political principle. It can be used to analyze politics and decide the appropriateness of policies and/or political systems.
It refers to policies “consistent with all of humanity having an equal opportunity” rather than demanding the absolute equal benefit of all of humanity instantaneously. It does not demand instant transformation, just policies consistent with the the ultimate goal. It does not demand equality of all but opportunity for all.
The human legitimacy principle provides and important guide both to political justice and how to build a political system. Policies which violate the human legitimacy principle by only allowing a sub section of humanity to enjoy a class of benefits have always led to conflict in the past and have always failed. For instance slavery violated the human legitimacy principle by denying slaves an equal opportunity to develop with other human beings; discrimination based on race and religion likewise violate the human legitimacy principle. Whenever the human legitimacy principle is violated conflict eventually occurs because it is unjust that some people are excluded. Solutions to the conflict can only succeed if they respect the human legitimacy principle, e.g. by abolishing slavery, rejecting racial and religious discrimination and so on.
Today the greatest violation of the human legitimacy principle which occurs is when national governments try to limit benefits to a sub group of humanity, their own citizens. This is a violation of the human legitimacy principle as it means the political system seeks to restrict benefits to only one sub group of humanity rather than allowing all humans to have an equal opportunity to benefit. Like all previous violations of the human legitimacy principle it leads to conflict: For instance violation of the human legitimacy principle leads to conflict at borders as people seeking an equal opportunity with their fellow humans become refugees and illegal immigrants rather than our fellow human beings. Economic inequality also arises through violation of the human legitimacy principle as national economies compete with each other and wealthier countries put further increasing their own wealth ahead of increasing human wealth, even when people are starving on other countries. Violation of the human legitimacy principle also contributes to environmental degradation as building a country's national wealth is put ahead of the human need for a healthy planet. And of course war occurs when we violate the human legitimacy principle by treating one country or group's interest as worth killing our fellow humans for.
We cannot solve these problems by leaving the world as it is. The solution to these and so many other problems can only be found by building a political system which respects the human legitimacy principle, a political system which transcends national boundaries; a Human Union.
Note: For more about the human legitimacy principle see "Humanity or Sovereignty" by Lyndon Storey in which this principle was first developed. Information about this book is available on the internet at www.humanityorsovereignty.com (link opens in new window/tab)