Max Webber's Classification of Authority

A village elder is obeyed because his father and grandfather were obeyed before him. A freedom fighter is obeyed because of who she is, not what office she holds. A tax officer is obeyed because a rulebook says she may issue the notice. Three completely different reasons for the same thing — obedience — and Max Weber built his entire classification of authority out of naming exactly these three.

In two minutes

Max Weber classified legitimate authority into three ideal types by the ground on which obedience is claimed: traditional authority (resting on custom and long-established practice), charismatic authority (resting on the exceptional personal qualities of a leader), and legal-rational authority (resting on impersonal rules and defined offices).

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