If Law does not fit properly into revolutionary phenomena, it is because they call into question all positivist legal logic, based on the hierarchical ordering of norms. Therefore, the events that occurred in Tunisia on 14 January 2011 attest to the complexity of relations between legality and legitimacy. Could the whole legal system inherited from the old regime be renounced over its illegitimacy? Actors in Tunisia's transition have responded with the now widely recognised "Tunisian exception": to ensure the continuity of the state by safeguarding only that which is absolutely necessary to build a new legal system. Once this has been guaranteed, the synergies between legality and legitimacy will continue to define democratic transition in the country. This article looks to review the dialectic between the demands for the rules of law and demands from the streets in times of widespread euphoria.
Revolution, democratic transition, legitimacy, legality, consensus, civil society, Tunisia.