institutions, including religion, government, and the family, where we obey some rules
because we have always done so. Children obey parents; parishioners obey the clergy
because they have always done so—and always will. In some cultures, the expecta-
tion of blind obedience by wives to their husbands’ authority is similar. But even in
ancient times, large-scale political, economic, and social changes sometimes occurred,
such as invasion, war, or natural disaster, and new generations faced situations and
challenges unknown to their ancestors, thus putting a great strain on traditional
authority. That’s when a second form, charismatic authority, would emerge.Charismatic Authority
Charismatic authorityis a type of power in which people obey because of the per-
sonal characteristics of the leader. Charismatic leaders are so personally compelling
that people follow them even when they have no traditional claims to authority.
Indeed, they often ask their followers to break with tradition. We read in the New
Testament that Jesus frequently said “it is written, but I say unto you... ,” contrast-
ing traditional authority (Jewish law) with charismatic authority (his teachings).
Charismatic leaders are often religious prophets, but even when they are not, their
followers can be as passionate and devout as religious believers. Some presidents,
like Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, developed a popularity that cannot
be explained by their performance in office alone. Many other political leaders of
the past and present depend, to some degree, on charisma in addition to other types
of authority.
Charisma is morally neutral—as a personal quality, it can be found at all points
in an ethical spectrum: Hitler, Gandhi, Osama bin Laden, and Nelson Mandela all
possessed personal qualities that elicited obedience from their followers. Charismatic
leaders can change societies, leading people away from the traditional rules and
toward a more personal experience of authority.
But pure charisma is also unstable because it is located in the personality of an
individual, not a set of traditions or laws. And because they defy other forms of
authority, charismatic leaders rarely live long—they are exiled (like the Dalai Lama
in 1959), assassinated (Gandhi, Kennedy), or imprisoned (Mandela). When they are
gone, their followers are faced with a crisis. How do you maintain the emotional high
that you felt when the leader was with you?
Weber argued that after the leader’s departure, a small group of disciples will cre-
ate a set of rules and regulations by which one can continue being a follower, and a
set of rituals that will remind the followers of the presence of the departed leader.
Thus, charismatic authority is replaced by the rules, regulations, and rituals of legal-
rational authority.Legal-Rational Authority
In the third form of authority, legal-rational authority,leaders are to be obeyed,
not primarily as representatives of tradition or because of their personal qualities,
but because they are voicing a set of rationally derived laws. They must act impar-
tially, even sacrificing their own opinions and attitudes in obedience to the laws of
the land.
Legal-rational authority begins with the rationalization of authority after the
departure of the charismatic leader and has become the most common form of author-
ity in contemporary societies. In fact, many argue that modern government would be
impossible without it. Governments operate under a set of regulations flexible enough458 CHAPTER 14POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT