Throughout European history there have been institutional, economic, and political innovations that are accompanied by theories of how new structures are to work and what makes them legitimate. But the legitimacy of new institutions and structures is rarely easily established by sheer imposition or proclamation; rather, is always negotiated in practice. Government officials, political parties, economic planners, and civic activists are never able to impose their own legitimacy without making a case to the people over whom they wish to hold sway. Claiming legitimate authority thus requires the deployment of tactics designed to convince or coerce the people over whom a new institution or group wishes to hold sway. At no time is this negotiation of legitimacy more intense and necessary than in revolutionary or transitional states, particularly those undergoing an abrupt shift to new forms of political sovereignty, social or economic organization.

The papers on this panel are all geared at exploring the negotiation of legitimacy necessitated in transitional states and the tactics new governments, economic planners, civic activists, and party operatives deploy to win the trust, adherence, or even enthusiasm of the people. Papers will cover France, Spain, Germany, and Poland and examine instances ranging from the eighteenth through the late twentieth century.