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Legitimation is the act of providing legitimacy. Legitimation in the social sciences refers to the process whereby an act, process, or ideology becomes legitimate by its attachment to norms and values within in given society. It is the process of making something acceptable and normative to a group or audience.

Legitimate power is the ability to influence through authority, the right by virtue of one's organization position or status to exercise control over persons in subordinate position.

For example, the legitimation of power can be understood using Max Weber's traditional bases of power. In a bureaucracy, people gain legitimate use of power by their positions which legitimate their use of power. As a man, George Bush (or any other president) has no legitimate right to wield power. As a president, his use of power is fully legitimated by the position he occupies in the bureaucracy. Therefore, even though the same individual is wielding power (and could at least hypothetically be doing so at a personal level), the position legitimates the man's use of power in the scope of his office.

In another example, if an individual attempts to convince others that something is "right", they can invoke generally accepted arguments that support their agenda. Interest groups must legitimate their courses of action based on invoking specific social norms and values. Invoking these norms and values allows the group to proceed in a rational and coherent manner with the expectation that their subsequent behavior is legitimated by the norms and values which guide their organizations.

• Legitimacy (political science)
• Legitimation crisis (concept)