Weber The Forms Of Legitimate Domination Analysis

In his foundational work The Types of Legitimate Domination (1922) Weber attempts to establish a theoretical framework to help understand the nature of political legitimacy and the means by which it is achieved. By observing human relationships and their interaction with both formal and informal institutional structures, he is able to provide a detailed sociological analysis highlighting fundamental differences between several strategies of domination (Weber 1978: 212). In doing so, he establishes three 'pure types ' of legitimate authority based on the type of legitimacy claimed therein; legal-rational authority; traditional authority, and charismatic authority. Each type, according to Weber, endows its ruler with a justifiable right to rule, …show more content…
Here obedience is owed to the impersonal order (or office); of which the incumbent’s authority exists within a formalised legal structure and are subject themselves to the rule of law. The purest type of system claiming legal-rational authority employs a bureaucratic administrative staff to exercise domination, which is itself constructed using legal and rational methodology, and, thanks to its supreme efficiency, can be applied in all kinds of situations and contexts, i.e., political or economic (Weber 1978: 217-220). This is based on a belief that rationality leads to the most efficient form of administration, and therefore provides the most effective and stable form of government. However, this is not without its limitations. Although, according to Weber, this method of rule favors the leveling of status and mitigates the likelihood that unjust rulers will reach positions of authority, it is not completely insulated from perversion. Leaders or ministers of an agency who generally do not have advanced technical training in the area of their administrative portfolio possess considerable power over the agencies actions, and in some cases its objectives. A severe deviation could be based purely on value or instrumental rationality, even on behalf of their associated political party. A poor decision might be in contrast with popular public opinion, and, in turn, destabilise the legitimacy of the executive authority. A contemporary example of legal-rational authority is evident in all liberal democratic states, whose leaders claim their legitimacy based on formalised legal processes. Its wide dissemination is a testament to its ability to provide lasting political