The readiness to comply and authority are necessary conditions of effective governance. They can be generated through different means, e.g. through formal public office. In areas of limited statehood, empirical legitimacy usually derives from specific properties that are attributed to governing actors. We differentiate legitimacy by (specialized) knowledge (e.g. experts), by moral or religious competence (e.g. NGOs as norm-entrepreneurs) or by ethnic, identity-based ascription (e.g. chiefs).