Concerned parties’ participation in political decisions is an important source of legitimacy and contributes to procedural legitimacy (input und throughput legitimacy). For the participatory mechanism to function persons affected must be able to act (which in turn requires social trust; see above). In areas of limited statehood, there exist locally varying forms of participation aside from voting and elections, such as consensual decision-making or ad hoc and topic-based appointment of representatives towards community outsiders. The historical perspective, taken in some sub-projects of the SFB 700, demonstrates the importance of reflecting on differing ideas of legitimacy. Governance constellations are to be evaluated according to appropriate context-specific criteria of participation and procedure.