but your first question seems unrelated - as if it exists only to be snarky.

Oh, that is unintended. Apologies. The last couple times I've encountered that word used it was a placeholder for "vague feelings of dis/approval", though I should probably give LW more credit. I still have doubts about the usefulness of 'legitimacy' as a metric.

Do you disagree that voting reinforces the sense of the populace that the democratically elected government has a "right to rule"?

No, I agree with that. Though, if the 'sense of the populace' was a reliable, efficient weapon of change then wouldn't democracy be the government of choice?

Also, this is my first post on LW. Hello!