This paper studies how strategies of legitimation are employed by ruling elites in authoritarian regimes and received by different addressees during a crisis of legitimacy. The Algerian case of authoritarian persistence in the Arab uprisings illustrates a conceptual framework that differentiates between addressees, types and modes of legitimation. The focus on societal target groups and their response is crucial for assessing the success or failure of regime strategies and reveals a dark side of legitimation in Algeria. The empirical study builds on qualitative fieldwork conducted in 2013. As many of the legitimation strategies failed, the legitimacy crisis in this case could not be solved. Few successful strategies contributed to the persistence of authoritarian rule.