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Abstract
This thesis examines the construction of legitimate national authority following Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS) transition from rebel governance in Idlib to national power in post-Assad Syria. It asks how authority developed under wartime rule is reproduced, adapted, or transformed when extended across a wider and more diverse political community. Using critical qualitative discourse analysis alongside institutional, documentary, and interview evidence, the study examines the relationship between the consolidation of national authority and its domestic legitimacy. It finds that this process involved partial institutional adaptation alongside continuities in the relationships and practices shaping how power was exercised. International normalization advanced alongside this uneven domestic transformation. The thesis argues that the move from rebel rule to national power cannot be understood through institutionalization or governing capacity alone, but through whether the foundations and practices of authority are sufficiently transformed to support a claim to rightful national rule.