WHAT DOES A CRISIS MEAN TODAY?

LEGITIMATION PROBLEMS IN LATE CAPITALISM

Author(s): JRGEN HABERMAS
Source: Social Research, Vol. 40, No. 4 (WINTER 1973), pp. 643-667
Published by: The New School
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WHAT DOES A CRISIS MEAN TODAY?

LEGITIMATION PROBLEMS IN
LATE CAPITALISM*
BY JRGEN

HABERMAS

X he expression"late capitalism'*implicitlyassertsthat,even in
state-regulated
capitalism,social developmentsare still passing
through"contradictions"or crises. I would thereforelike to
beginby elucidatingthe conceptof crisis.
Prior to its use in economics,we are familiarwith the concept
of crisisin medicine. It refersto thatphase of a disease in which
it is decided whetherthe self-healing
powersof the organismare
sufficient
forrecovery. The criticalprocess,the disease,seemsto
be somethingobjective. A contagiousdisease, for instance,affectsthe organismfromoutside. The deviationsof the organism
fromwhat it should be- i.e., the patient'snormal condition
can be observedand, if necessary,measured with the help of
indicators. The patient'sconsciousnessplays no part in this.
How the patientfeels and how he experienceshis illness is at
mosta symptomof eventsthat he himselfcan barelyinfluence.
we would not speakof a crisisin a medicalsituation
Nevertheless,
of life or death if the patientwere not trapped in this process
withall his subjectivity.A crisiscannot be separatedfromthe
victim'sinner view. He experienceshis impotencetoward the
objectivityof his illnessonly because he is a subject doomed to
and temporarily
unable to be a subjectin full possession
passivity
of his strength.
Crisis suggeststhe notion of an objective power deprivinga
subject of part of his normal sovereignty. If we interpreta
processas a crisis,we are tacitlygivingit a normativemeaning.
When the crisisis resolved,the trappedsubject is liberated.

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SOCIAL RESEARCH

This becomes clearer when we pass fromthe medical to the

dramaturgicalnotion of crisis. In classicalaestheticsfromAristotleto Hegel, crisissignifies
the turningpointof a fatefulprocess
which,althoughfullyobjective,does not simplybreak in from
theoutside. There is a contradiction
expressedin thecatastrophic
culminationof a conflictof action, and that contradictionis
inherentin the verystructureof the systemof action and in the
personalitysystemsof the characters. Fate is revealed in conflictingnormsthatdestroythe identitiesof the charactersunless
theyin turn manage to regain their freedomby smashingthe
mythicalpowerof fate.
The notion of crisis developed by classical tragedyhas its
counterpartin the notionof crisisto be foundin the doctrineof
salvation. Recurringthroughoutthe philosophyof historyin the
eighteenthcentury,thisfigureof thoughtentersthe evolutionary
social theoriesof the nineteenthcentury. Marx is the firstto
develop a sociologicalconceptof systemcrisis. It is againstthat
backgroundthatwe now speak of social or economiccrises. In
any discussionof, say, the great economic crisis in the early
'thirties,the Marxistovertonesare unmistakable.
Since capitalistsocietieshave thecapacityof steadilydeveloping
technologicalproductiveforces,Marx conceivesan economiccrisis
as a crisis-ridden
processof economicgrowth. Accumulationof
capital is tied to theacquisitionof surplus. This meansforMarx
thateconomicgrowthis regulatedby a mechanismthat both establishesand concealsa powerrelationship. Thus the model of
in the sense that the economic
risingcomplexityis contradictory
more
and
new
problemsas it solvesothers.
systemkeepscreating
The total accumulationof capital passes throughperiodic devaluationsof capital components:this formsthe cycle of crises,
whichMarx in his timewas able to observe. He triedto explain
the classicaltypeof crisisby applyingthe theoryof value with
the help of the law of the tendentialfall of the rate of profit.
But that is outside my purposeat the moment. My question is
really:Is late capitalismfollowingthe same or similarself-destruc-

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LEGITIMATION

645

- capitaltivepatternofdevelopmentas classical- i.e., competitive

ism? Or has the organizingprincipleof late capitalismchanged
so greatlythatthe accumulationprocessno longergeneratesany
problemsjeopardizingitsexistence?
My startingpointwill be a roughdescriptivemodel of the most
importantstructuralfeaturesof late-capitalistsocieties. I will
then mention three crisis tendencieswhich today, though not
are major topicsof discussion. And finally,
specificto the system,
I will deal withvariousexplanationsof thecrisistendenciesin late
capitalism.
StructuralFeatures of Late-CapitalistSocieties
The expression"organizedor state-regulated
capitalism"refers
to two classesof phenomenaboth of which can be traced back
to the advanced stage of the accumulationprocess. One such
class is the processof economic concentration(the creation of
national and by now even multinationalcorporations)and the
organizationof marketsfor goods, capital, and labor. On the
state keeps fillingthe increasing
otherhand, the interventionist
functionalgaps in themarket. The spreadofoligopolisticmarket
structurescertainlyspells the end of competitivecapitalism.
But no matterhow far companies may see into the futureor
extend theircontrolover the environment,the steeringmechanism of the marketwill continue to functionas long as investmentsare determinedby companyprofits. At the same time,
by complementingand partiallyreplacing the market mechanism,governmentinterventionmeans the end of liberal capitalism. But no matterhow much the statemay restrictthe owner
of goods in his private autonomous activity,there will be no
politicalplanningto allocate scarceresourcesas long as the over- i.e., as indirectresults
all societal prioritiesdevelop naturally
of the strategiesof private enterprise. In advanced capitalist
and the legitimation
societies,the economic,the administrative,
follows.
as
systemscan be characterized

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SOCIAL RESEARCH

The Economic System. During the 1960s, various authors,

usingthe example of the United States,developed a three-sector
model based on the distinctionbetweenthe privateand public
one sector still
areas. Private productionis market-oriented,
market
strategiesof
regulatedby competition,another by the
the oligopoliesthattoleratea competitivefringe. However,the
public area, especiallyin the wake of armamentand space-travel
production,has witnessedthe rise of great industrieswhich, in
of the martheirinvestment
decisions,can operateindependently
ket. These are either enterprisesdirectlycontrolled by the
contracts.The
or privatefirmslivingon government
government
monopolisticand the public sectorsare dominatedby capital-intensiveindustries;the competitivesectoris dominatedby laborintensiveindustries. In the monopolisticand the public sectors,
the industriesare facedwith powerfulunions. But in the comlevels
petitivesector,labor is not as well organized,and the salary
we
different.In the monopolisticsector, can
are correspondingly
observerelativelyrapid progressin production. However,in the
in the compublic sector,the companiesdo not need to be, and
petitivesectortheycannotbe, thatefficient.
The Administrative
System. The stateapparatusregulatesthe
overall economic cycle by means of global planning. On the
otherhand, it also improvesthe^conditionsforutilizingcapital.
Global planning is limited by private autonomous use of
the means of production (the investmentfreedomof private
cannotbe restricted).It is limitedon the otherhand
enterprises
are fiscal
by the general purpose of crisismanagement. There
and financialmeasuresto regulatecycles,as well as individual
measuresto regulate investmentsand overall demand (credits,
of inprice guarantees,subsidies,loans, secondaryredistribution
policies, income, governmentcontractsbased on business-cycle
directlabor-market
policies,etc.). All these measureshave the
reactivecharacterof avoidance strategieswithinthe contextof a
well-knownpreferencesystem. This systemis determinedby a
didacticallydemanded compromisebetween competingimpera-

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LEGITIMATION

647

tives: steadygrowth,stabilityof moneyvalue, full employment,

and balance of trade.
Global planningmanipulatesthe marginalconditionsof decisions made by privateenterprise. It does so in order to correct
side effects.
the marketmechanismby neutralizingdysfunctional
The state,however,supplants the marketmechanismwherever
the governmentcreates and improvesconditions for utilizing
excess accumulatedcapital. It does so:
by "strengthening
the competitivecapacityof the nation,"
by organizingsupranationaleconomic blocks,by an imperialisetc.;
tic safeguardingof internationalstratification,
by unproductivegovernmentconsumption(armamentand
industry);
space-travel
by politicallystructuredguidance of capital in sectorsneglectedby an autonomousmarket;
edu by improvingthematerialinfrastucture
(transportation,
cation and health, vocation centers,urban and regional planning, housing,etc.);
by improvingthe immaterialinfrastructure
(promotionof
scientificresearch,capital expenditurein researchand developof patents,etc.);
ment,intermediary
by increasingthe productivityof human labor (universal
education, vocational schooling,programsof training and reeducation,etc.);
by payingforthesocial costsand real consequencesof private
welfare;ecological damage).
production(unemployment,
The LegitimationSystem. With the functionalweaknessesof
of the marketmechside effects
themarketand thedysfunctional
anism, the basic bourgeois ideology of fair exchange also collapsed. Yet thereis a need forevengreaterlegitimation.The governmentapparatusno longermerelysafeguardsthe prerequisites
for the productionprocess. It also, on its own initiative,intervenes in that process. It must thereforebe legitimatedin the
even thoughthere is now
growingrealmsof state intervention,
no possibilityof revertingto the traditionsthathave been under-

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SOCIAL RESEARCH

mined and worn out in competitivecapitalism. The universalisticvalue systemsof bourgeoisideologyhave made civil rights,
universal. Independentof general elections,
includingsuffrage,
circumthus
can
be gotten only in extraordinary
legitimation
stances and temporarily. The resulting problem is resolved
throughformaldemocracy.
A wide participationby the citizensin the processof shaping
- would have to expose the
politicalwill- i.e., genuinedemocracy
socializedproductionand
contradiction
betweenadministratively
a stillprivateformof acquiringthe producedvalues. In orderto
frombeing thematized,one thingis neceskeep thecontradiction
indepensystemhas to be sufficiently
sary. The administrative
a legitiin
This
occurs
will.
dent of the shapingof legitimating
mationprocessthat elicitsmass loyaltybut avoids participation.
In the midstof an objectivelypoliticizedsociety,the membersenjoy the statusof passivecitizenswith the rightto withholdtheir
is
acclaim. The privateautonomousdecisionabout investments
the
of
population.
complementedby the civil privatism
Class Structure. The structuresof late capitalismcan be regardedas a kind of reactionformation. To staveoffthe system
societiesfocusall sociallyintegrativestrength
crisis,late-capitalist
most probable. They do so
on the conflictthat is structurally
to keep that conflictlatent.
in order all the more effectively
In thisconnection,an importantpart is played by the quasiwhichdepends on negotiationsbetween
politicalwage structure,
Price fixing,which has replaced price
unions.
companiesand
in
competitionin the oligopolisticmarkets,has its counterpart
the labor market. The great industriesalmost administratively
territories.Likewise,through
controlthepricesin theirmarketing
with
wage negotiations,theyachieve quasi-politicalcompromises
theirunion adversaries. In thoseindustrialbranchesof the monopolisticand public sectorsthatare crucial to economicdevelopknownas labor has a "politicar*price. The
ment,thecommodity
since in"wage-scalepartners"finda broad zone of compromise,
creasedlaborcostscan be passedon intotheprices,and themiddle-

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649

tendto
rangedemandsmade bybothsidesagainstthegovernment
converge. The main consequencesof immunizingthe original
conflict
zone are as follows: (1) disparatewagedevelopments;(2) a
short-lived
redistribupermanentinflationwiththecorresponding
tion of incomesto the disadvantageof unorganizedwage earners
and othermarginalgroups;(3) a permanentcrisisin government
- i.e., pauperization of
finances,coupled with public poverty
education,housing,and health; (4) an inpublic transportation,
sufficient
balance of disproportionateeconomic developments,
both sectoral(e.g., agriculture)and regional(marginalareas).
Since World War II, the most advanced capitalistcountries
have kept the class conflictlatent in its essentialareas. They
have extendedthe businesscycle,transforming
the periodicpressuresof capital devaluationinto a permanentinflationary
crisis
with mildercyclicalfluctuations.And theyhave filtereddown
side effectsof the interceptedeconomic crisis
the dysfunctional
and scatteredthemover quasi-groups(such as consumers,school
childrenand theirparents,transportation
users,the sick, the elderly) or divided groups difficultto organize. This process
breaks down the social identity of the classes and fragmentsclass conciousness. In the class compromisenow part of
thestructureof late capitalism,nearlyeveryoneboth participates
and is affectedas an individual- although,with the clear and
sometimesgrowingunequal distributionof monetaryvalues and
power,one can well distinguishbetweenthosebelongingmore to
theone or to the othercategory.
Three DevelopingCrises
societieshave conThe rapid growthprocessesof late-capitalist
frontedthe systemof world societywith new problems. These
problemscannotbe regardedas crisisphenomenaspecificto the
even thoughthe possibilitiesof copingwith the crisesare
system,
specificto the systemand thereforelimited. I am thinkingof

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SOCIAL RESEARCH

thedisturbanceof theecologicalbalance,the violationof the personalitysystem(alienation), and the explosive strain on internationalrelations.
The EcologicalBalance. If physicallyeconomicgrowthcan be
use of moreenergy
tracedbackto thetechnologically
sophisticated
of human labor,thenthe societalforto increasethe productivity
mationof capitalismis remarkablefor impressivelysolving the
problemof economicgrowth. To be sure,capital accumulation
originallypushes economicgrowthahead, so there is no option
fortheconscioussteeringof thisprocess. The growthimperatives
originallyfollowed by capitalism have meanwhile achieved a
global validityby way of systemcompetitionand worldwidediftrendsin some
fusion(despitethestagnationor even retrogressive
Third World countries).
The mechanismsof growthare forcingan increaseof both population and productionon a worldwidescale. The economic
needsof a growingpopulationand the productiveexploitationof
on theone hand,finite
natureare facedwithmaterialrestrictions:
resources(cultivable and inhabitable land, freshwater,metals,
minerals,etc.); on the otherhand,irreplaceableecologicalsystems
thatabsorb pollutantssuch as fallout,carbon dioxide, and waste
heat. Forresterand othershave estimatedthe limitsof the exponentialgrowthof population,industrialproduction,exploitation of natural resources,and environmentalpollution. To be
sure,theirestimateshave ratherweak empiricalfoundations.The
mechanismsof population growthare as little known as the
maximumlimitsof the earth'spotentialforabsorbingeven the
major pollutants. Moreover,we cannot forecasttechnological
materialswill
developmentaccuratelyenoughto knowwhichraw
be replacedor renovatedby futuretechnology.
However, despite any optimisticassurances,we are able to
indicate (if not preciselydetermine)one absolute limitationon
due to consumpgrowth:the thermalstrainon the environment
is
tion of energy. If economicgrowth necessarilycoupled with
that
increasingconsumptionof energy,and if all natural energy

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651

into economicallyuseful energyis ultimatelyreis transformed

leased as heat, it will eventuallyraise the temperatureof the
thedeadline is not easy. Neveratmosphibre.Again,determining
theless,these reflectionsshow that an exponential growth of
- i.e., an expanded control over expopulation and production
ternal nature- will some day run up against the limits of the
biologicalcapacityof the environment.
This is not limited to complex societal systems.Specificto
these systemsare the possibilitiesof wardingoffdangersto the
ecology. Late-capitalistsocietieswould have a very hard time
limitinggrowthwithoutabandoningtheirprincipleof organization,becausean overallshiftfromspontaneouscapitalistgrowthto
qualitativegrowthwould require productionplanningin terms
of use-values.
The AnthropologicalBalance. While the disturbanceof the
ecologicalbalance pointsout the negativeaspectof the exploitationof naturalresources,thereare no sure signalsforthecapacity
limitsof personalitysystems. I doubt whetherit is possible to
identifysuch thingsas psychologicalconstantsof human nature
thatinwardlylimit the socializationprocess. I do, however,see
a limitationin the kind of socializingthat societal systemshave
been usingto createmotivesforaction. Our behavioris oriented
by norms requiringjustificationand by interpretativesystems
guaranteeingidentity. Such a communicativeorganizationof
behaviorcan becomean obstaclein complexsocietiesfora simple
reason. The adaptivecapacityin organizationsincreasesproporauthoritiesbecome independentof
tionatelyas the administrative
the particularmotivationsof the members. The choice and
oforganizationgoals in systems
achievement
of highintrinsiccomplexityhave to be independentof theinfluxof narrowlydelimited
motives.This requires a generalizedwillingnessto comply (in
suchwillingnesshas theformof legitimation).As
politicalsystems,
longas socializationbringsinnernatureintoa communicativebehavioralorganization,no legitimationfornormsof action could
conceivablysecure an unmotivatedacceptanceof decisions. In

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SOCIAL RESEARCH

regardto decisionswhosecontentsare still undetermined,

people
willcomplyifconvincedthatthosedecisionsare based on a legitimatenormof action. If the motivesforactingwereno longerto
and if the personality
pass throughnormsrequiringjustification,
structures
no longerhad to findtheirunityunder interpretative
systems
guaranteeingidentity,then (and only then) the unmotivated acceptanceof decisionswould become an irreproachable
routine,and the readinessto complycould thus be producedto
any desirable degree.
The InternationalBalance. The dangers of destroyingthe
world systemwith thermonuclearweapons are on a different
level. The accumulatedpotentialforannihilationis a resultof
the advanced stage of productiveforces. Its basis is technologicallyneutral,and so theproductiveforcescan also taketheformof
comdestructive
forces(whichhas happenedbecause international
to
municationis still undeveloped). Today, mortaldamage the
naturalsubstratumof global societyis quite possible. Internanew
tionalcommunicationis therefore
governedby a historically
to
limited
not
is
this
Once
of
self-limitation.
again,
imperative
all highlymilitarizedsocietal systems,but the possibilitiesof
tackling this problem have limits specific to the systems.
An actual disarmamentmay be unlikelybecause of the forces
class societies. Yet regulating
behind capitalistand postcapitalist
the armsrace is not basicallyincompatiblewith the structureof
societiesif it is possible to increasetechnologically
late-capitalist
theuse-valueofcapital to thedegreethatthe capacityeffectof the
government'sdemand for unproductiveconsumergoods can be
balanced.
DisturbancesSpecificto the System
I wouldnowlike to leave thesethreeglobal consequencesoflatecapitalistgrowthand investigatedisturbancesspecificto the system. I will startwith a thesis,widespreadamong Marxists,that
the basic capitaliststructurescontinueunalteredand create eco-

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653

nomiccrisesin alteredmanifestations.In late capitalism,thestate

pursues the politics of capital with other means. This thesis
occursin two versions.
Orthodoxstate-theory
maintainsthatthe activitiesof the interventioniststate,no less than the exchange processesin liberal
(the
capitalism,obey economiclaws. The alteredmanifestations
crisisof statefinancesand permanentinflation,growingdisparities betweenpublic povertyand privatewealth,etc.) are due to
of the realizationprocessis govthe factthat the self-regulation
than
rather
erned by power
by exchange. However, the crisis
as muchas ever,by the law of value, the
tendencyis determined,
in the exchangeof wage labor for
forcedasymmetry
structurally
capital. As a result,state activitycannot permanentlycompensate for the tendencyof fallingrates of profit. It can at best
- i.e., consummateit with political means.
mediate that trend
The replacementof marketfunctionsby statefunctionsdoes not
alter the unconsciousnature of the overall economic process.
This is shownby the narrowlimitsof the state'spossibilitiesfor
manipulation. The state cannot substantiallyintervenein the
strike.Neither
propertystructurewithoutcausingan investment
avoid cyclicalstagnationtendencies
can it manageto permanently
- i.e., stagnationtendenciesthat are
of the accumulationprocess
createdendogenously.
A revisionistversionof the Marxisttheoryof the state is current among leading economistsin the German DemocraticRepublic. Accordingto thisversion,the stateapparatus,insteadof
naturallyobeyingthe logic of the law of value, is consciously
supportingthe interestsof united monopolycapitalists. This
agencytheory,adapted to late capitalism,regardsthe state not
as a blind organof therealizationprocessbut as a potentsupreme
capitalistwho makesthe accumulationof capital the substanceof
his political planning. The high degree of the socializationof
productionbringstogetherthe individual interestsof the large
and the interestin maintainingthe system. And all
corporations
themoreso because itsexistenceis threatenedinternallyby forces

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SOCIAL RESEARCH

the system. This leads to an overall capitalistintranscending

terest,which the united monopoliessustainwith the aid of the
stateapparatus.
I considerboth versionsof the theoryof economic crises inthe state,the otheroveradequate. One versionunderestimates
estimatesit.
In regardto theorthodoxthesis,I wonderif the state-controlled
and technologicalprogressand the system
ofscientific
organization
of collectivebargaining(a systemproducinga class compromise,
economic sectors)
especiallyin the capital-and growth-intensive
have not alteredthe mode of production.The state,havingbeen
drawn into the processof production,has modifiedthe determinantsoftheprocessof utilizingcapital. On thebasisof a partial
classcompromise,the administrative
systemhas gained a limited
of the
planningcapacity.This can be used withinthe framework
democraticacquisition of legitimationfor purposes of reactive
avoidance of crises. The cycle of crises is deactivated and
renderedlessharmfulin its social consequences. It is replacedby
inflationand a permanentcrisisof public finances. The questionas to whetherthesesurrogatesindicatea successfulhaltingof
the economiccrisisor merelyits temporaryshiftinto the political systemis an empirical one. Ultimately,this depends on
whetherthe indirectlyproductivecapital investedin research,
and educationcan continuethe processof accumuladevelopment,
tion. It can manage to do so.by makinglabor more productive,
raisingthe rate of surplusvalue, and cheapeningthe fixedcomponentsof capital.
The revisionisttheoryhas elicited the followingreservations.
For one thing,we cannotempiricallysupportthe assumptionthat
the state apparatus,no matterin whose interest,can actively
economic
plan, as well as draft and carry through,a central
capitalism(akin to Weststrategy.The theoryof state-monopoly
ern theoriesof technocracy)fails to recognizethe limits of administrativeplanning in late capitalism. Bureaucracies for
planning always reactivelyavoid crises. The various bureau-

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655

craciesare not fullycoordinated,and because of theirlimitedcapacityforperceivingand steering,theytend to depend largelyon

theinfluenceof theirclients. It is because of thisveryinefficiency
thatorganizedpartialinterestshave a chance to penetratethe administrative
apparatus.Nor can we empiricallysupportthe other
that
thestateis activeas theagentof the unitedmonoassumption
polists.The theoryof state-monopoly
capitalism(akin to Western
elite theories)overratesthe significanceof personalcontactsand
directinfluence. Studieson the recruiting,make-up,and interaction of the various power elites fail to cogentlyexplain the
functionalconnectionsbetweenthe economicand administrative
systems.
In my opinion,the late-capitalist
statecan be properlyunderstoodneitheras theunconsciousexecutiveorganof economiclaws
nor as a systematic
agentof the united monopolycapitalists. InI
would
stead,
join Claus Offein advocatingthe theorythatlatecausedbythestate's
capitalistsocietiesare facedwithtwodifficulties
functional
in
the
to
intervene
gaps of the market.
growing
having
We can regardthestateas a systemthatuses legitimatepower. Its
decisions.
executingadministrative
outputconsistsin sovereignly
To thisend, it needs an inputof massloyaltythatis as unspecific
as possible. Both directionscan lead to crisislikedisturbances.
crisis. The adminOutput criseshave the formof the efficiency
istrativesystemfailsto fulfillthe steeringimperativethat it has
takenover fromthe economicsystem. This resultsin the disorareas of life. Input criseshave the formof
ganizationof different
The legitimationsystemfailsto maintain
crisis.
the legitimation
the necessarylevel of mass loyalty. We can clarifythiswith the
in public finances,with which
example of the acute difficulties
societiesare now struggling.
all late-capitalist
The governmentbudget,as I have said, is burdenedwith the
socializedproduction. It bears
public expensesof an increasingly
the costs of internationalcompetitionand of the demand for
unproductiveconsumergoods (armamentand space travel). It
and
bearsthe costsforthe infrastructural
output (transportation

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SOCIAL RESEARCH

scientificand technologicalprogress,vocational
communication,
training). It bears the costsof the social consumptionindirectly
concernedwith production (housing,transportation,
health,leisure,generaleducation,social security). It bears the costsof providingforthe unemployed.And finally,it bears the externalized
costsof environmental
damagecaused by privateproduction.Ultheseexpenseshave to be met by taxes. The stateaptimately,
paratusthushas two simultaneoustasks. It has to levythe necesand incomeand employthemso efficiently
sarytaxesfromprofits
as to preventany crisesfromdisturbinggrowth. In addition the
selectiveraisingof taxes,the recognizableprioritymodel of their
have to function
utilization,and the administrative
performance
in such a wayas to satisfythe resultingneed forlegitimation.If
thestatefailsin the formertask,the resultis a deficitin administrativeefficiency.If it failsin the lattertask,theresultis a deficit
in legitimation.

Theorems of the LegitimationCrisis

I would like to restrictmyselfto the legitimationproblem.
about its genesis. Legitimatepower
There is nothingmysterious
administrative
for
has to be available
planning. The functions
accruingto the stateapparatusin late capitalismand the expansion of social areas treated by administrationincrease the
need for legitimation. Liberal capitalismconstituteditself in
the formsof bourgeoisdemocracy,which is easy to explain in
termsof the bourgeoisrevolution. As a result,the growingneed
for legitimationnow has to work with the means of political
democracy(on the basis of universalsuffrage).The formaldemocraticmeans,however,are expensive. Afterall, the stateapparatus does not just see itselfin the role of the supremecapitalist
interestsof the variouscapital factions. It
facingthe conflicting
of the populationas
also has to considerthegeneralizableinterests
faras necessaryto retainmassloyaltyand preventa conflict-ridden

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LEGITIMATION

657

withdrawalof legitimation. The state has to gauge these three

interestareas (individual capitalism,state capitalism,and genin orderto finda compromiseforcompeting
eralizableinterests),
demands. A theoremof crisishas to explain not only why the
but also whycertainprobstateapparatusencountersdifficulties
lemsremainunsolvedin the long run.
First,an obvious objection. The statecan avoid legitimation
problemsto theextentthatit can manageto make the administrative systemindependentof the formationof legitimatingwill.
To that end, it can, say, separate expressivesymbols (which
create a universalwillingnessto follow) fromthe instrumental
functionsof administration.Well known strategiesof this sort
are: the personalizingof objective issues, the symbolicuse oF
inquiries,expert opinions, legal incantations,etc. Advertising
techniques,borrowedfromoligopolisticcompetition,both cor
of prejudice. By resortingto
firmand exploitcurii n structures
arouse
unconscious
emotionalappeals, they
motives,occupy certaincontentspositively,
and devalue others.The public,whichis
has thefunction
engineeredforpurposesof legitimation,
primarily
of structuring
attentionby meansof areas of themesand thereby
ofpushinguncomfortable
themes,problems,and argumentsbelow
the thresholdof attention. As Niklas Luhmann put it: The
politicalsystemtakesover tasksof ideologyplanning.
The scope for manipulation,however,is narrowlydelimited,
for the cultural systemremains peculiarlyresistantto admincreationof meaning,
istrativecontrol. There is no administrative
thereis at best an ideological erosion of cultural values. The
as soon as the mode
acquisitionof legitimationis self-destructive
of acquisitionis exposed. Thus, thereis a systematiclimit for
attemptsat makingup forlegitimationdeficitsby means of well
aimed manipulation. This limit is the structuraldissimilarity
action and cultural tradition.
betweenareas of administrative
A crisisargument,to be sure,can be constructedout of these
considerations
onlywiththe viewpointthatthe expansionof state
ofdisproportionately
increasingtheneed
activityhas theside effect

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SOCIAL RESEARCH

forlegitimation.I regardsuch an overproportionate

increaseas
likelybecause thingsthat are taken for grantedculturally,and
have so far been external conditionsof the political systems,
are now being drawn into the planningarea of administration.
This processthematizestraditionswhichpreviouslywere not part
much less of practical discourse. An
of public programming,
example of such direct administrativeprocessingof cultural
traditionis educationalplanning,especiallythe planningof the
curriculum. Hitherto,the school administrationmerelyhad to
codifya givennaturallyevolvedcanon. But now the planningof
the curriculumis based on the premisethatthe traditionmodels
can also be different.Administrative
planningcreatesa universal
compulsion for justificationtoward a sphere that was actually
distinguishedby the powerof self-legitimation.
In regard to the direct disturbanceof thingsthat were culturallytakenforgranted,thereare furtherexamplesin regional
and urban planning(privateownershipof land), healthplanning
("classless hospital"), and family planning and marriage-law
planning(whichare shakingsexual taboos and facilitatingemancipation).
An awareness of contingencyis created not just for contents of traditionbut also for the techniques of tradition
i.e., socialization. Among preschoolchildren,formalschoolingis
alreadycompetingwith familyupbringing. The new problems
theeducationalroutine,and thewidespreadawarenessof
afflicting
theseproblems,are reflectedby, among otherindications,a new
type of pedagogicaland psychologicalwritingaddressedto the

general public.
On all theselevels,administrative
planninghas unintentional
of disquietingand publicizing. These effectsweaken the
effects
justificationpotential of traditionsthat have been forced out
of theirnaturalcondition. Once theyare no longerindisputable,
theirdemandsforvaliditycan be stabilizedonly by way of discourse. Thus, the forcibleshiftof thingsthathave been culturally taken for grantedfurtherpoliticizesareas of life that pre-

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LEGITIMATION

659

viouslycould be assignedto the privatedomain. However,this

whichis informally
assured
spellsdangerforbourgeoisprivatism,
I
of
of
the
this
see
the
structures
signs
danger in
public.
by
strivingsfor participationand in models for alternatives,such
as have developedparticularlyin secondaryand primaryschools,
in the press,the church,theaters,publishing,etc.
These argumentssupport the contentionthat late-capitalist
withseriousproblemsof legitimation. But
societiesare afflicted
do theseargumentssufficeto explain whytheseproblemscannot
be solved? Do theyexplain the predictionof a crisisin legitimation? Let us assumethe stateapparatuscould succeed in making
labor more productiveand in distributingthe gains in productivityin such a way as to assure an economicgrowthfreeof
crises(if not disturbances). Such growthwould nevertheless
proceed in termsof prioritiesindependentof the generalizableinterestsof the population. The prioritymodels that Galbraith
has analyzed fromthe viewpointof "private wealth vs. public
poverty"result froma class structurewhich, as always,is still
being kept latent. This structureis ultimatelythe cause of the
legitimationdeficit.
We haveseen thatthestatecannotsimplytakeover thecultural
systemand that,in fact,the expansionof areas forstateplanning
createsproblemsforthingsthatare culturallytakenforgranted.
"Meaning" is an increasinglyscarce resource. Which is why
thoseexpectationsthatare governedby concreteand identifiable
- keep mounting
needs- i.e., thatcan be checkedby theirsuccess
in the civil population. The risinglevel of aspirationsis proportionateto the growingneed for legitimation. The resourceof
"value," siphonedoffby the tax office,has to make up for the
scantyresourceof "meaning." Missinglegitimationshave to be
replacedby social rewardssuch as money,time,and security.A
crisisof legitimationarisesas soon as the demands for theserewardsmountmorerapidlythan the available massof values,or if
and cannotbe satisfied
expectationscome about thatare different
withthe presentsystem.
by thosecategoriesof rewardsconforming

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SOCIAL RESEARCH

Why, then, should not the level of demands keep within

operable limits? As long as the welfarestate'sprogrammingin
connectionwith a widespreadtechnocraticconsciousness(which
makes uninfluenceablesystem-restraints
responsible for bottlea
of
civil
maintains
sufficient
amount
necks)
privatism,then the
legitimationemergenciesdo not have to turninto crises. To be
sure, the democraticformof legitimationcould cause expenses
thatcannotbe coveredif thatformdrivesthe competingparties
to outdo one anotherin their platformsand therebyraise the
expectationsof the populationhigherand higher. Granted,this
argumentcould be amply demonstratedempirically. But we
societieseven bother
would stillhave to explainwhylate-capitalist
to retainformaldemocracy. Merelyin termsof the administrative system,formaldemocracycould just as easily be replaced
- a conservative,
authoritarianwelfarestate that reby a variant
duces the political participationof the citizens to a harmless
level; or a Fascistauthoritarianstate that keeps the population
toeingthe markon a relativelyhigh level of permanentmobilization. Evidently,bothvariantsare in the long run less compatible
with developed capitalismthan a partystate based on mass democracy. The socioculturalsystemcreatesdemands thatcannot
be satisfiedin authoritariansystems.
This reflectionleads me to the followingthesis: Only a rigid
socioculturalsystem,incapable of being randomlyfunctionalized
for the needs of the administrativesystem,could explain how
resultin a legitimationcrisis. This delegitimationdifficulties
- i.e., a
therefore
be based on a motivationcrisis
velopmentmust
discrepancybetweenthe need formotivesthat the stateand the
occupational systemannounce and the supply of motivation
offered
by thesocioculturalsystem.
Theoremsof the MotivationCrisis
The most importantmotivationcontributedby the sociocultural systemin late-capitalistsocietiesconsistsin syndromesof
civil and family/vocational
privatism. Civil privatismmeans

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LEGITIMATION

661

system'soutput and minor

stronginterestsin the administrative
orientain theprocessof will-formation
participation
(high-output
thus
tion vs. low-inputorientation). Civil privatism
corresponds
to thestructures
of a depoliticizedpublic. Familyand vocational
privatismcomplementscivil privatism. It consistsof a family
and of a career
orientationwithconsumerand leisure interests,
orientationconsistentwith status competition. This privatism
to thestructures
of educationaland occupational
thuscorresponds
regulatedby competitiveperformance.
systems
The motivationalsyndromes
mentionedare vitalto the political
and economicsystem.However,bourgeoisideologieshave components directlyrelevant to privatisticorientations,and social
changesdeprivethosecomponentsof theirbasis. A briefoutline
may clarifythis.
PerformanceIdeology. Accordingto bourgeoisnotionswhich
have remainedconstantfromthe beginningsof modernnatural
law to contemporary
electionspeeches,social rewardsshould be
distributedon the basis of individual achievement. The distributionof gratifications
should correlateto everyindividual's
performance.A basic conditionis equal opportunityto participate in a competitionwhich is regulatedin such a way that externalinfluences
can be neutralized. One suchallocationmechanism was the market. But ever since the general public realized
that social violence is practicedin the formsof exchange,the
markethas been losingitscredibilityas a mechanismfordistributing rewardsbased on performance. Thus, in the more recent
versionsof performance
ideology,marketsuccessis beingreplaced
the
success
mediatedby formalschooling. Howby
professional
ever,thisversioncan claim credibilityonly when the following
conditionshave been fulfilled:
equal opportunity
of accessto higherschools;
nondiscriminatory
evaluation standardsfor school performance;
synchronie
developmentsof theeducationaland occupational
systems;

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662

SOCIAL RESEARCH

work processeswhose objectivestructurepermitsevaluation

thatcan be ascribedto individuals.
accordingto performances
of accessand standards
"School justice" in termsof opportunity
of evaluationhas increasedin all advanced capitalistsocietiesat
can be observedin the
leastto some degree. But a countertrend
twootherdimensions.The expansionof the educationalsystemis
becomingmoreand more independentof changesin the occupational system,so that ultimatelythe connectionbetweenformal
successwill mostlikelyloosen. At the
schoolingand professional
same time,thereare more and more areas in which production
structuresand work dynamicsmake it increasinglydifficultto
eleevaluateindividualperformance.Instead,theextrafunctional
mentsof occupationalroles are becomingmore and more importantforconferring
occupationalstatus.
and monotonouswork processesare inMoreover,fragmented
enteringsectorsin whichpreviouslya personalidentity
creasingly
could be developed throughthe vocational role. An intrinsic
motivation for performanceis getting less and less supportfromthe structureof the workprocessin market-dependent
attitudetowardworkis spreading
workareas. An instrumentalist
workin
even the traditionally
bourgeoisprofessions
(white-collar
motivationcomingfromouters,professionals).A performance
stimulatedby wage incomeonly:
side can, however,be sufficiently
if the reservearmyon the labor marketexercisesan effective
competitivepressure;
if a sufficient
exists between the lower
income differential
work
and
inactive
the
wage groups
population.
Both conditionsare not necessarilymet today. Even in capitalistcountrieswithchronicunemployment(such as the United
States),the divsionof the labor market(into organizedand comwith the natural mechanismof competitivesectors)interferes
petition. With a mountingpovertyline (recognizedby the welfarestate),the livingstandardsof the lower income groups and
releasedfromthe labor processare mututhegroupstemporarily
ally assimilatingon the otherside in the subproletarianstrata.

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LEGITIMATION

663

PossessiveIndividualism. Bourgeois societysees itselfas an

instrumental
groupthataccumulatessocial wealthonlyby way of
- i.e., guarantees economic growthand general
wealth
private
welfarethroughcompetitionbetweenstrategically
acting private
persons. Collective goals, under such circumstances,can be
achieved only by way of individual utilityorientations. This
preferencesystem,of course,presupposes:
that the privateeconomic subjectscan with subjectiveunambiguityrecognizeand calculateneeds thatremainconstantover
given time periods;
that this need can be satisfiedby individuallydemandable
goods (normally,by way of monetarydecisionsthat conformto
the system).
Both presuppositionsare no longer fulfilledas a matterof
coursein the developedcapitalistsocieties. These societieshave
reacheda level of societal wealth far beyond wardingoffa few
fundamental
hazardsto lifeand thesatisfying
of basic needs. This
is whythe individualisticsystemof preferenceis becomingvague.
The steadyinterpreting
and reinterpreting
of needs is becominga
matterof the collectiveformationof the will, a factwhichopens
the alternativesof eitherfreeand quasi-politicalcommunication
- i.e.,
among consumers as citizens or massive manipulation
strongindirectsteering. The greater the degree of freedom
forthe preference
systemof the demanders,the more urgentthe
- at least if theyare to
problemof sales policiesforthe suppliers
maintainthe illusion that the consumerscan make privateand
autonomous decisions. Opportunisticadjustmentof the consumersto marketstrategies
is the ironicalformof everyconsumer
autonomy,whichis to be maintainedas the faade of possessive
individualism. In addition,with increasingsocializationof production, the quota of collective commoditiesamong the consumer goods keeps growing. The urban living conditions in
complexsocietiesare moreand moredependenton an infrastructure (transportation,
leisure,health,education,etc.) that is with-

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664

SOCIAL RESEARCH

and further
fromtheformsofdifferential
demand
drawingfurther
and privateappropriation.
Exchange-valueOrientation. Here I have to mention the
tendenciesthat weaken the socializationeffectsof the market,
especiallytheincreaseof thosepartsof the populationthatdo not
reproducetheirlivesthroughincomefromwork(students,welfare
recipients,social-security
recipients,invalids,criminals,soldiers,
as
well
the
as
etc.)
expansionof areas of activityin which,as in
civil serviceor in teaching,abstractworkis replacedby concrete
work. In addition,the relevancethatleisureacquireswithfewer
workinghours(and higherreal income),comparedwith the relevance of issues withinthe occupationalsphere of life, does not
in the long run privilegethoseneeds thatcan be satisfiedmonetarily.
The erosionof bourgeoistraditionbringsout normativestructures that are no longer appropriateto reproducingcivil and
familyand professionalprivatism. The now dominant componentsof culturalheritagecrystalizearound a faithin science,a
values. Irreversibledevelop"postauratic"art,and universalistic
mentshave occurredin each of theseareas. As a result,functional
inequalitiesof the economicand the politicalsystemsare blocked
by culturalbarriers,and theycan be broken down only at the
- i.e., withextraordinary
motivacost of regressions
psychological
tionaldamage. GermanFascismwasan exampleofthewastefulatorganizedregressionof consciousnessbelow
temptat a collectively
the thresholdsof fundamentalscientisticconvictions,modernart,
law and morals.
and universalistic
Scientism. The political consequences of the authorityensystemin developedsocietiesare ambivalent.
joyedbythescientific
The rise of modernscience establisheda demand for discursive
attitudescannothold out against
and traditionalistic
justification,
thatdemand. On the otherhand, short-livedpopular syntheses
of scientificdata (which have replaced global interpretations)
guaranteethe authorityof sciencein the abstract. The authority
knownas "science*'can thuscoverboth things:the broadlyeffective criticismof any prejudice,as well as the new esotericsof

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LEGITIMATION

665

of the
specialized knowledgeand expertise. A self-affirmation
a positivistic
commonsenseon the partof the
sciencescan further
depoliticizedpublic. Yet scientismestablishesstandardsby which
it can also be criticizeditselfand foundguiltyof residualdogmaand of democraticelitism,asserttism. Theories of technocracy
of
an
civic privatism,
come forth
the
institutionalized
ing
necessity
withthe presumptionof theories. But thisdoes not make them
immuneto criticism.
PostauraticArt. The consequencesof modernart are somewhat less ambivalent. The modern age has radicalized the
autonomyof bourgeoisart in regardto the externalpurposesfor
whichart could be used. For the firsttime,bourgeoissocietyitselfproduceda counterculture
againstthe bourgeoislife styleof
possessiveindividualism,performance,and practicality. The
Bohme, firstestablishedin Paris, the capital of the nineteenth
embodiesa criticaldemandthathad arisen,unpolemically
century,
still,in the aura of the bourgeoisartwork. The alter ego of the
businessman,the "human being/' whom the bourgeoisused to
encounterin the lonesomecontemplationof the artwork,soon
split away fromhim. In the shape of the artisticavant-garde,it
confrontedhim as a hostile,at best seductiveforce. In artistic
beauty,thebourgeoisiehad been able to experienceitsown ideals
and the (as always)fictitious
redemptionof the promiseof happinesswhichwas merelysuspendedin everydaylife. In radicalized
art,however,the bourgeoissoon had to recognizethe negationof
social practiceas its complement.
Modernart is the outer coveringin which the transformation
of bourgeoisart into a counterculturewas prepared. Surrealism
marksthe historicalmomentwhen modernart programmatically
illusion in
destroyedthe outer coveringof no-longer-beautiful
order to enter life desublimated. The levelingof the different
realitydegreesof art and life was accelerated(althoughnot, as
WalterBenjaminassumed,introduced)by the new techniquesof
massreproductionand mass reception. Modern art had already
sloughed offthe aura of classical bourgeoisart in that the art
workmade the productionprocessvisible and presenteditselfas

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SOCIAL RESEARCH

a made product. But artenterstheensembleofutilityvalues only

when abandoning its autonomous status. The process is certainlyambivalent. It can signifythe degenerationof art into a
propagandisticmass art or commercializedmass culture,or else
its transformation
into a subversivecounterculture.
UniversalistMorality. The blockage which bourgeois ideologies,strippedof theirfunctionalcomponents,createfordeveloping the political and economic system,is even clearer in the
moral systemthan in the authorityof scienceand the self-disintegrationof modernart. The momenttraditionalsocietiesenter
a processof modernization,the growingcomplexityresults in
steeringproblemsthatnecessitatean acceleratedchange of social
norms. The tempo inherentin natural cultural traditionhas
to be heightened. This leads to bourgeoisformallaw whichpermitsreleasingthe normcontentsfromthe dogmaticstructureof
mere traditionand definingthem in termsof intention. The
legal normsare uncoupled fromthe corps of privatizedmoral
norms. In addition,theyneed to be created(and justified)according to principles. Abstractlaw countsonly forthatarea pacified
by statepower. But the moralityof bourgeoisprivatepersons,a
moralitylikewiseraised to the level of universalprinciples,encountersno barrierin the continuingnaturalconditionbetween
the states. Since principledmoralityis sanctionedonly by the
of theconscience,itsclaim to universality
purelyinwardauthority
conflictswithpublic morality,which is still bound to a concrete
state-subject.This is the conflictbetween the cosmopolitanism
of thehumanbeingand theloyaltiesof thecitizen.
If we followthe developmentallogic of overallsocietalsystems
of norms(leaving the area of historicalexamples),we can settle
thatconflict.But itsresolutionis conceivableonlyundercertain
conditions. The dichotomybetweeninnerand outermoralityhas
to disappear. The contrastbetween morallyand legally regulated areas has to be relativized. And the validityof all norms
has to be tied to thediscursiveformationof the will of the people
potentiallyaffected.

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Competitivecapitalismforthe firsttime gave a binding force

universalisevalue systems.This occurredbecause the
to strictly
and beof
system exchangehad to be regulateduniversalistically
cause theexchangeof equivalentsoffereda basic ideologyeffective
in the bourgeois class. In organized capitalism, the bottom
drops out of this legitimationmodel. At the same time, new
and increaseddemandsforlegitimationarise. However,the system of sciencecannot intentionallyfall behind an attainedstage
of cumulative knowledge. Similarly,the moral system,once
practicaldiscoursehas been admitted,cannot simply make us
forgeta collectivelyattainedstageof moral consciousness.
I would like to conclude with a finalreflection.
If no sufficient
concordanceexistsbetweenthe normativestructuresthatstill have some power todayand the politicoeconomic
system,then we can still avoid motivationcrisesby uncoupling
theculturalsystem. Culturewould thenbecomea nonobligatory
leisureoccupationor the object of professionalknowledge. This
solutionwould be blockedif the basic convictionsof a communicativeethicsand the experiencecomplexesof countercultures
(in
which postauraticart is embodied) acquired a motive-forming
power determiningtypicalsocializationprocesses. Such a conjectureis supportedbyseveralbehaviorsyndromes
spreadingmore
and moreamongyoungpeople eitherretreatas a reactionto an
exorbitantclaim on the personality-resources;
or protestas a
resultofan autonomousego organizationthatcannotbe stabilized
withoutconflicts
undergivenconditions. On the activistside we
find:the studentmovement,revoltsby high-schoolstudentsand
apprentices,pacifists,women's lib. The retreatistside is represented by hippies, Jesus people, the drug subculture, phenomenaofundermotivation
in schools,etc. These are theprimary
areas forcheckingour hypothesisthat late-capitalistsocietiesare
endangeredby a collapseof legitimation.

Originally published in Merkur, April-May 1973.

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