Book excerpt: How are legitimacy and alienation related? When citizens withdraw their loyalty from their political regime and leaders, they highlight their alienation. The link between legitimacy and alienation is that the regime's claim of legitimacy is in question when a state of political alienation prevails. This book examines the extent and effects of political alienation in Libya. It provides an insight into the political mindset of the Libyan people, leading up to the 2011 protests and the resulting civil war. Using a variety of measures, the book highlights links between legitimacy and alienation and underlines certain types of political behavior commonly associated with political alienation, drawing attention to various causes of indifference and violent behavior associated with political alienation in Libyan society. The book's findings reveal that alienation has led to wide-spread political apathy - as well as low or non-existent levels of political participation - among Libyans. Every year, the percentage of eligible Libyans involved in political activities has declined. The Basic Popular Congresses (BPCs), which work as an essential vehicle for political participation within the Libyan political regime, have been treated as immature institutions by the revolutionary leadership, who have remained, in the eyes of the people, the only actor of note. As a result, these trends are being increasingly interpreted as signs of the gradual exhaustion of a model for which there is no clear alternative in sight.