Joseph Raz links legitimacy to the justification of political authority.
Moreover, political decentralization involved the transfer of political authority and function from central government ministries to the local government authorities – cities, municipalities, and district councils (26).
South Africa's decentralisation reforms entail: the devolution of political and administrative authority from national level to nine semi-autonomous provincial governments (25), and the establishment of a district health system (DHS) by shifting health management responsibility from provincial to district health clusters (deconcentration) (26, 27).
Some MPs fear both measures, if not properly implemented, could centralise power at a time when the Government is pushing for greater devolution of political power.
The devolution of political power in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the developing regional agenda in England are widely read as a significant reconfiguration of the institutions and scales of economic governance.
An expert in constitutional law, Mr Cistac had recently said there was a legal basis to demands from the main opposition party for the devolution of political power.
Tamil politicians have long advocated devolution of political power in the north, something Sirisena has not said he will consider.
For hundreds of years, philosophers across the ideological spectrum have preached the virtue of devolution: higher levels of political power and authority should grant as much freedom as possible to lower ones, on the grounds that greater wisdom really does reside at the grass roots.
However, the devolution of administrative authority to local levels was not accompanied by an equivalent transfer of necessary financial resources (O'Bannon [2006]).
This entry distinguishes political authority from political power, and the idea of morally legitimate political authority from descriptive ideas of authority.
