Max Weber – Types of Authority
Ans: According to Weber authority is related to power. Indeed legitimate power is authority and authority is nothing but legitimate power. Therefore, the various forms of legitimate power will be the various forms of authority. Weber’s authority determines social action and social organization.
Weber recognizes three kinds of authority. These are –
Traditional authority: Traditional authority is one which one uses because, traditionally, that is being used. Faith in those norms is called traditional faith. He has quoted the example of father or husband exercising some authority over the family or wife, which is all traditional and that is neither legal nor any other type of authority.
Rational Legal Authority: The term refers to a system of authority, which is both, rational and legal. It is vested in a regular administrative staff who operate in accordance with certain written rules and laws. According to Weber, legal authority is one which a person enjoys because he holds a particular office. Thus a public servant wields some authority because he occupies that position.
Charismatic authority: Certain individuals are so talented and versatile that they require neither position nor the boast of tradition to make an impact upon others. This extraordinary form of authority is known as charismatic. The religious prophets and social reformers are persons who have charismatic authority.
The above account of authority makes plain that rational-legal authority is the form of authority which constitutes bureaucracy.
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