One thing to think about is the soures of legitimacy in a political sense. It is bestowed by the people of a state and can come from numerous areas, such as tradition (like a king), moral/religious (like the Pope), personality/charisma (like the Perons in Argentina), skills and knowledge, and outcomes/results. Aragorn had political legitimacy under skills/knowledge, tradition (though this is the debate...), and arguably, personality/charisma.
Just something to consider in this discussion (yay comparative politics!)...
