Maybe the question is,? What makes legitimate authority possible?

或许这个问题是，是什么使得合法的权力成为可能？

youdao

SINCE no man has a natural authority over his fellow, and force creates no right, we must conclude that conventions form the basis of all legitimate authority among men.

既然每个人对于自己的同类都没有任何天然的权威，既然强力并不能产生任何权利，于是便只剩下来约定才可以成为人间各种合法权威的基础。

youdao

He later told writer Mark Stephens, "at that point, after hearing so many contradictory statements, I felt Dr." Sternglass was just as much a legitimate authority as anybody else was.

后来他对作家马克·史蒂芬斯说：“在那一刻，在听到各种相互矛盾的声明之后，我觉得斯特恩格拉斯博士与其他合理的消息来源是一样的。”

youdao

He says there should have been an election to re-establish legitimate authority, which was overthrown during the first Soviet occupation in 1940.

VOA: standard.2009.12.25

Even the expulsion of Satan from heaven was not sufficient to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt the legitimate authority of God.

即使是将撒旦逐出天堂也不足以,无可置疑的证明上帝的至高权威。

耶鲁公开课 - 弥尔顿课程节选

This is still a huge question for us when we think about nation building and building new states, how to create a legitimate authority.

这对我们来说依然是个庞大的问题,当我们思考国家的建设,建设一个新的国家，如何创造合法权力。

耶鲁公开课 - 政治哲学导论课程节选

Its power rests entirely on people's belief in its legitimate authority.

CNN: Our Imperial Judiciary

Uber rebel Douglas Carswell dislikes the term "rebel", since he believes he is doing his duty, by voting his conscience, and is not defying legitimate authority.

BBC: When MPs must choose between conscience and party

During a televised interview with Euronews in March 2011, after France recognized the National Transitional Council as the legitimate authority in Libya, Gadhafi's son claimed Libya contributed to the Sarkozy campaign.

CNN: Report: Gadhafi gave to Sarkozy's 2007 campaign