The Catholic Worker, Dorothy Day, and Exemplary Anarchism^35quality” not easily reproduced because inaccessible to most.^63 The
corollary of the idea that charisma is a scarce resource is that only
a select few will possess the qualifications for leadership, sharply
distinguishing them from those over whom they exercise their
authority.
Secondly, although Weber gives charisma some strikingly anar-
chistic features, arguing that it “transforms all values and breaks
all traditional and rational norms”^64 and, famously, that it is “the
specifically creative revolutionary force of history,”^65 he ultimate-
ly makes it a handmaiden to political domination. The portrait
Weber paints of the charismatic leader is of a figure who aspires
to march at the head of a column of obedient disciples, a figure
who out of a special sense of personal mission “seizes the task
for which he is destined and demands that others obey and fol-
low him.”^66 While the charismatic leader’s followers technically
sign on to his cause voluntarily, in some sense “it is their duty
to recognize his charisma.”^67 In other words, his superior qual-
ities generate a sense of obligation that takes on a compulsory
aspect. The charismatic leader may begin by inspiring others, but
he ultimately puts inspiration in the service of command. Weber
envisioned this playing out quite literally in the realm of politics,
where his personal preference was for strong but plebiscitarian
leadership, combining wide executive prerogative with popular
appeal. Charisma’s political utility, as Weber saw it, was in its abil-
ity to secure the consent of the public to the exercise of power by
elites and thus obviate the need for the naked exercise of political
domination.
Thirdly, Weber saw charisma as inherently unstable and transi-
tory. This was precisely because it is premised on the recognition
of unique qualities in individuals. Even when the original char-
ismatic leader is alive, he can only perpetuate his authority by
“proving his powers in practice” again and again, by continuously
working “miracles”—a feat few are able to sustain indefinitely.^68
When the charismatic leader dies, the group or movement built up
around him almost inevitably experiences a severe crisis of succes-
sion, a desperate search for a replica of what cannot be replicated.
To forestall such crises and ensure their survival, charismatic
movements must “transform charisma and charismatic blessing