Legitimacy of a government

[savedbychrist]

Before we concern about just law vs unjust law, a law must be promulgated by a legitimate authority. But what is a legitimate authority? How do a government gain legitimacy?

Countries, especially those with a long history, have often undergone a change in sovereignty. A revolution or occupation happens, and a new regime gets in place. How do we define if a new regime is legitimate or not? Some are certainly not democratically elected; you win the war and you are now king.

For example, was Japan the legitimate authority when it occupied China? And is the Chinese Communist Party a legitimate authority now? They basically just won in some war and took over the place.

 

[adamhovey1988]

For example, was Japan the legitimate authority when it occupied China?

No

And is the Chinese Communist Party a legitimate authority now?

No, the legitimate government of China is Taiwan.
It is 2:37 am here, so, hopefully, someone else will chime in.

 

[Genesis315]

I’m not sure there’s an easy catch-all answer (each case probably needs to be looked at on its own merits), but here are some Catholic sources on the topic:

St. Robert Bellarmine, De Laicis, chapter 6

Add, moreover, that even if at the beginning those who founded kingdoms were usurpers for the most part, yet, by the passing of time, either they or their successors became lawful rulers of these kingdoms, since the people gradually gave their consent. In this way the kingdom of France is now lawful, in the opinion of all, though in the beginning the Franks unjustly occupied Gaul. And the same may be said of the kingdom of Spain, which began with the invasion of the Goths; of the kingdom of England, which began with the unjust occupation of the Anglo-Saxons; and of this very Roman Empire, which was founded by Julius Caesar, the oppressor of his country; which, nevertheless, afterward became lawful to such a degree that Our Lord said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, etc.”

Pope Leo XIII, Au Milieu Des Sollicitudes, speaking of the various French governments that violently succeeded one another:

1. And how are these political changes of which We speak produced? They sometimes follow in the wake of violent crises, too often of a bloody character, in the midst of which pre-existing governments totally disappear; then anarchy holds sway, and soon public order is shaken to its very foundations and finally overthrown. From that time onward a social need obtrudes itself upon the nation; it must provide for itself without delay. Is it not its privilege - or, better still, its duty - to defend itself against a state of affairs troubling it so deeply, and to re-establish public peace in the tranquillity of order? Now, this social need justifies the creation and the existence of new governments, whatever form they take; since, in the hypothesis wherein we reason, these new governments are a requisite to public order, all public order being impossible without a government. Thence it follows that, in similar junctures, all the novelty is limited to the political form of civil power, or to its mode of transmission; it in no wise affects the power considered in itself. This continues to be immutable and worthy of respect, as, considered in its nature, it is constituted to provide for the common good, the supreme end which gives human society its origin. To put it otherwise, in all hypotheses, civil power, considered as such, is from God, always from God: “For there is no power but from God.”(9)
2. Consequently, when new governments representing this immutable power are constituted, their acceptance is not only permissible but even obligatory, being imposed by the need of the social good which has made and which upholds them. This is all the more imperative because an insurrection stirs up hatred among citizens, provokes civil war, and may throw a nation into chaos and anarchy, and this great duty of respect and dependence will endure as long as the exigencies of the common good shall demand it, since this good is, after God, the first sand last law in society.

 

[RolandThompsonGunner]

No, the legitimate government of China is Taiwan.

The US recognizes the PRC as the legitimate government in China, as do the vast majority of countries on earth. As a matter of international law, the legitimacy of the PRC is pretty well established.