Legitimacy, Moral Injury, and Institutional Constraint: A Response to Becker-Inflected Moral–Ecological Critiques of Constitutional Civic Realism

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) 2026 Preprint Open access

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Authors: John C. Matylonek
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18529453
Cited by: 0

Abstract

This paper responds to Becker-inflected moral–ecological critiques of Constitutional Civic Realism (CCR). It argues that while moral injury provides a powerful diagnostic of domination, legitimacy theory must retain a comparative, falsifiable account of institutional constraint. The paper defends legitimacy as a non-ideal, structural condition rather than a moral threshold.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Comparative constitutional jurisprudence studies Political Theory and Democracy Political Philosophy and Ethics

Publication details

Journal / source
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Publication date
9 February 2026
Language
EN
Document type
Preprint