# legitimacy (endorsed)

The condition in which those whose walls a power sets read its setting as their own, so the walls hold without force.

- Computed level: L17 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: published  ·  Domain: agency

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [power](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-power.over), [set](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-set.fix), [wall](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-wall.range-end), [read](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-read.information), [condition](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-condition.state), [hold](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-hold.physical), [force](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-force.push), [belonging](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-belonging.member)

**Through:** Power that must push every wall into place spends force without end; when those it bounds read its setting as their own, the walls hold themselves. Legitimacy is that reading, and it can be withdrawn faster than any force can replace it.

**Novel properties:**
- walls that hold without force
- power held in the models of those it bounds
- withdrawable all at once

## Examples
- Max Weber distinguished three grounds on which people accept rule as legitimate: tradition, charisma, and legal-rational authority. *(sociology)*

## Used by
- [founding fathers](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-founding-fathers.origin) (L19)
- [we the people](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-we-the-people.setter) (L18)

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*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-legitimacy.endorsed*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-legitimacy.endorsed.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*