Table 2 Functionally equivalent... | Emerald Publishing

Table 2

Functionally equivalent architectures of legitimation

Legitimation architecture	Case example	Locus of operation	Mechanism of recognition	Required volume of Mass communication
Expert-consensus	BEPS	Decision premises	Epistemic seal: Recognition is institutionalised within a professional social climate as a matter of course	Minimal: Binds conduct without requiring mass public attention
Democratic-authorisation	TCJA	Decision-acceptance (legislative passage)	Democratic seal: A publicly visible moment installs new programmatic premises	Episodic: Requires initial public visibility, but binds independently of continuous attention once installed
Mobilisational	Tariffs	Contingent (struggles at the premise level)	Continuous input: Lacks a stable epistemic or democratic seal; relies on shielding against de-legitimation	Continuous: Requires sustained mass political communication to maintain bindingness

Legitimation architecture	Case example	Locus of operation	Mechanism of recognition	Required volume of Mass communication
Expert-consensus	BEPS	Decision premises	Epistemic seal: Recognition is institutionalised within a professional social climate as a matter of course	Minimal: Binds conduct without requiring mass public attention
Democratic-authorisation	TCJA	Decision-acceptance (legislative passage)	Democratic seal: A publicly visible moment installs new programmatic premises	Episodic: Requires initial public visibility, but binds independently of continuous attention once installed
Mobilisational	Tariffs	Contingent (struggles at the premise level)	Continuous input: Lacks a stable epistemic or democratic seal; relies on shielding against de-legitimation	Continuous: Requires sustained mass political communication to maintain bindingness

Source(s): Authors’ own work