The concept of legitimacy entails the acceptance and the right associated with a given authority, often a regime or a governing law. In that regard, an authority may be used in referring to a certain position that exits in a government that has been established under the law. On the other hand, the term legitimacy may be used when referring to the system of government that exists and operates within a sphere of influence. The progress of the revolutions in Vietnam was considerably impacted and informed by its legitimacy as a sovereign nation. It noteworthy that the basis of the revolution witnessed in Vietnam was political which contributed to the existence of some of the significant challenges that affected the stability and operationalization of the political legitimacy in Vietnam. In this respect, the political legitimacy was associated with a single party rule that had been mounted by pro ‐ democracy activists, communist intelligentsia, war veterans and retired senior generals among others (DeFronzo, 2015). To that extent, the revolutions in Vietnam wee facilitated with the objective of challenging the existing regime in areas such as political reforms, economic performance, and ideological considerations.
The revolution in Iran was characterized by extensive popular participation fundamentally in urban areas. Moreover, some factors are attributable to the status of Iran that made it ripe for revolutionary tendencies and actions such as conflict among different social and economic classes, a widespread feeling of discrimination and deprivation by some and undue pressure from international systems. The progress of the kind of revolution that happened in Iran was also subject to the consideration of the concept of legitimacy. At the time of revolutions in Iran, the ruling regime was being faced with serious challenges affecting various political institutions whereas it was undermining the social principles by taking away legitimacy from the Iranian members of the public. In considering some unifying motives for revolutions, it is clear that the concept of legitimacy considerably influenced the kind of revolutions that were witnessed in both Vietnam and Iran. Researchers and scholars have been able to establish that it is challenging to have a successful revolution happening without support from people belonging to major social classes within the society (Khandagh, 2015). At that point, the question of legitimacy and sovereignty of that is vested in the people arises where it is exercised with the backing of several classes joining forces.
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DeFronzo's fifth critical factor highlights a societal or global concept that is characterized by permissiveness or tolerance. In this case, it is rare for governments from other nations to come up with an effective intervention strategy with the objective of preventing or stopping the development of a revolutionary movement in a different nation. To that extent, the revolutions experienced in both Vietnam and Iran do not have a role in weakening the fifth critical factor described by DeFronzo. According to DeFronzo (2015), the elite members of various social groups in a society often take the lead through their direct linkage and participation in the affairs of left-wing revolutionary movements. In previous cases, young people from these groups were able to encounter and face various instances occasioned by moral alienation from the political and economic systems in the societies. The two cases of revolutionary actions in Vietnam and Iran demonstrated the role played by the young elite members of most social groups in the society in championing for revolutions that violated the legitimacies of the ruling regimes in their own countries. In this respect, some of them were forced to against the political and economic institutions that were perceived to be beneficial to the member of public including a member of their own families.
References
DeFronzo, J. (2015). Revolutions and revolutionary movements, 5th Edition . Boulder, Colo:
Westview Press.
Khandagh, N. (2015). Revolutionary Movements in different parts of Iran 1918-24. Advances
In Social Sciences Research Journal , 2 (4). doi: 10.14738/assrj.24.964
