Legitimacy‑First Test for Laws

A simple analytical move: before judging the legality of a law, assess whether it violates the 'substantive norms' that underpin a polity (norms that pre‑exist written constitutions). If a legislature enacts measures that contradict those foundational norms, the law may be legally valid yet politically illegitimate — a distinction that changes how publics and institutions respond. — Making this distinction explicit reframes debates about constitutionality, protest, emergency powers, and when extra‑legal resistance or extraordinary remedial measures become defensible in democracies.