This research project investigates the notion of legitimacy, understood as the moral acceptability of governance in areas of limited statehood. Questions on the meta-level of legitimacy arise when the basic requirements of legitimate governance - such as a consensus about the boundaries of the political community to be governed - are not met. The project aims to develop normative principles for dealing with these meta-problems. For this purpose we examine two types of cases: contested claims of collective self-determination and international transitional administrations.