In spite of the lack of plausible alternatives to liberal democracy, the age of globalization has ushered in serious challenges to the democratic legitimacy of the nation state. The contributors in this collection explore the frontiers of normative and empirical legitimacy research, drawing upon a range of key conceptual and methodological issues.

HEIDRUN ABROMEIT Professor of Comparative Politics, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany RODNEY BARKER Professor of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK IAN CLARK Professor of International Politics, University of Wales, UK ANDREAS FØLLESDAL Director of Research and Professor of Political Philosophy, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo, Norway SEBASTIAN HAUNSS Research Associate, Department of Political Science, University of Hamburg, Germany GEORGE KLOSKO Henry L. and Grace Doherty Professor, Department of Politics, University of Virginia, USA SHANE MULLIGAN Assistant Professor of Political Science, Concordia University, Canada FRANK NULLMEIER Professor of Political Science, University of Bremen, Germany MICHAEL STOIBER Senior Research Fellow, Department of Political Science, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany BETTINA WESTLE Professor of Political Science, Philipps University Marburg, Germany