The legitimacy derives, ultimately, no matter by what formula, from tradition.

Rational-legal legitimacy derives from a system of institutional procedure, wherein government institutions establish and enforce law and order in the public interest.

In parliamentary constitutional monarchies, the legitimacy of the unelected head of state typically derives from the tacit approval of the people via the elected representatives.

For both, the message was unequivocal: the legitimacy of the Franco regime derived from superior military force.

"The entire legitimacy of the regime derives from Kim Il-sung's myth," Myers added.

Gorbachev will go back as President of the Soviet Union, but with his authority greatly diminished because his legitimacy derives completely from Yeltsin and the Russian parliament.

The credibility and legitimacy of America's influence in the world derives not just from its ability but from its willingness.

Mr. de Klerk said a government's legitimacy derives from Parliament and disparaged the A.N.C.'s terms as "government by decree."

The legitimacy therefore derives from conquest, and purity of racial/royal descent.

The democratic legitimacy of the Union derives solely from the consent and from the participation of the people in the process under way.