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Legitimacy Structures in the Ottoman State: The Reign of Abdülhamid II (1876–1909)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2009

Selim Deringil
Selim Deringil
Affiliation:
Boǧaziçi University Istanbul
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Abstract

For those who have, or once had it, power holds a strange fascination. For that very reason it waxes men inventive. It is almost invariably surrounded by ideologies of legitimacy, which adduce tradition, divine grace, or the law in order to support the establishment of those at the top. These ideologies are, strictly speaking, instruments of mystification; yet they are permissible weapons as long as they do not prevent the other side from returning them in kind.—Ralf Dahrendorf1

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Middle East Studies , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , August 1991 , pp. 345 - 359
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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References

Author's note: This article represents the first fruits of a broader study on historical legitimation in the Hamidian era. I would like to thank the Fullbright Commission and the Department of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University, for their support in making this work possible.

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