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Max Weber's Charismatic Authority

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o Weber’s Charismatic Authority Charismatic is derived from the Greek word charisma, which means “grace” and it is used to refer to that peculiar form of personal ascendency which an individual may acquire in a particular society which may bestow or confer an indisputable aura of legitimacy on all his or her acts. Most scholarly work on cult of personality or personality cult is grounded or at least stimulated by the three-way classification of authority established by sociologist Max Weber. There are arguments that the leadership systems of the twentieth century which engendered personality cults might be seen as an embodiment of what Weber characterized as charismatic authority. This is therefore a summary of Weber’s theory of charismatic …show more content…

This means that a state can exist only if the people submit to their leader at any given time. In Weber’s view inner validations, such as people’s belief in the existence of a legitimacy of a particular system or ideology, are the focal points for compliance and provide a reliable foundation for authority. According to Lane (1984:207), “Political power is considered legitimate when it is exercised both with a consciousness on the part of the elite that it has a right to govern and with recognition by the ruled of that right.” Weber drew the three ideal forms of legitimate authority, whose validity of the entitlements to rule are based on the three classifications below: • Traditional authority is based on “an established belief in the sanctity of immemorial traditions and the legitimacy of those exercising authority under them” (Weber et al., 1994:312). The legitimacy of such an authority originates from tradition, convention and cultural principles, like for instance, the divine rights of a king in monarchies or paternal …show more content…

It is not about who the leader is in actuality, but how he is portrayed to those subject to charismatic authority, that is the determinant for the authenticity of charisma. In light of this, the development of personality cult signifies an attempt to breed the ideology that a leader possesses supernormal or extraordinary qualities that are not possessed by any other in society to support the legitimacy of his rule. The use of mass media to propagate not only a false depiction of the leader as an individual, but also of his many accomplishments and uncommon failures, are presented to the naïve

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The Primary objective of all leaders should be to control citizens. A society that allows authority to be challenged will never succeed. This source depicts an authoritarian or totalitarian view of what a governing body should look like. The author suggests that the primary objective of government should be the “control of the citizens”, and therefore that the individuals should entirely obey said government.

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The Effective use of power is influenced by a leader’s use of rhetorical strategy and propaganda, which creates and obedient yet blind society. When leaders appeal to their followers’

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Some find it difficult to diffuse authority… [which] causes some to feel threatened and insecure” (Sferra). More simply, an authoritative leader is one that has supreme power over the people. McMurphy’s transformational

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In theory, people are meant to kept in check by a paramount authority for their best interest. In an excerpt from the Leviathan, Hobbes states, “...that during the time men live without a common Power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called Warre…” Government is a unifying power, an external force that placates human nature with a sense of security. Similarly, in Common Sense by Paine, “Here then is the origin and rise of government; namely, a mode rendered necessary by the inability of moral virtue to govern the world; here too is the design and end of government. Freedom and security.” Regarding the structure of government, specifically separation of powers, the Second Treatise Concerning Government, the concept of judicial, executive, and legislative branches is further explained, “First, There wants an establish’d, settled, known Law, received and allowed by common Consent to the Standard of Right and Wrong (...)

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The aims of the studies where similar, both tried to explain authorianism, the historical,political background was different for each study. They used different scales and the explaining of the data was influenced by different psychological theories, which then made an impact on the conclusions drawn by the researchers. Comparing the similarities and differences between Adorno et al. ’s and Altemeyer’s approach to authoritarianism showes us that even if studies have the same questions that they want to answer the come both to different explanation. Both studies provided important insights into the explanation and development of authotarian personality,and built a solid foundation for future

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According to the influential sociologist and philosopher Max Weber, the American society has a legal-rational authority, which means the authority is constructed in clearly defined laws. A modern society like America relies on this type of authority because it represents order. In contrast, Max Weber would say the Invisible People have a traditional authority, which means the ability, and right to

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Introduction Human history is abundant in examples of individuals who have amassed such power with themselves that have allowed them to control entire populations, and often unleash tyranny and oppression upon millions of people. Throughout history there have been individuals who have held an iron grip over entire nations, concentrating totalitarian power with themselves, denying any freedom to people, crushing any form of dissent, and often unleashing mass violence, terror, and in some cases genocide. These people have shaped the future of peoples, regions and continents, starting wars and conflicts, and determining the course of millions of lives. And because of this very fact, that a single person could such a huge impact over the lives of so many people, it is very important to study the very factors that caused these individuals to make the decisions that they did, specifically, the factors and that shaped up the personality of these

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This paper will examine the three leadership theories, identify how they apply to my practice, and explore how these theories interact with each other. The Trait Leadership Theory is based on the belief that a person is born with special traits contributing to natural leadership abilities. Studies of famous historical leaders have been used to identify various traits for this theory. Although the list of traits differs from study to study, there are five major traits that are consistent throughout most studies.

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