Rational-legal authority

(noun)

A form of leadership in which the authority of an organization or a ruling regime is largely tied to legal rationality, legal legitimacy and bureaucracy.

Related Terms

Examples of Rational-legal authority in the following topics:

  • Rational-Legal Authority

    • Rational-legal authority is a form of leadership in which authority is largely tied to legal rationality, legal legitimacy, and bureaucracy.
    • In rational-legal authority, power is passed on according to a set of rules.
    • Rational-legal authority is a form of leadership in which the authority of an organization or a ruling regime is largely tied to legal rationality, legal legitimacy, and bureaucracy.
    • Unlike charismatic authority and traditional authority, rational-legal authority derives its powers from the system of bureaucracy and legality.
    • According to Weber, rational-legal authority is a form of leadership in which the authority of an organization or a ruling regime is largely tied to legal rationality, legal legitimacy, and bureaucracy.

  • Weber's Model for Bureaucracy

    • Weber identified in bureaucracies a rational-legal authority in which legitimacy is seen as coming from a legal order.
    • Accompanying this shift was an increasing democratization and rationalization of culture.
    • Weber identified in bureaucracies a rational-legal authority in which legitimacy is seen as coming from a legal order.
    • The majority of modern bureaucratic officials and political leaders represent this type of authority.
    • Regarding Western societies, Weber called this increasing rationalization an "iron cage" that trapped individuals in systems based solely on efficiency, rational calculation, and control.

  • Power, Authority, and Violence

    • The first type discussed by Weber is Rational-legal authority.
    • The power of the rational legal authority is mentioned in a document like a constitution or articles of incorporation.
    • Modern societies depend on legal-rational authority.
    • God) that is superior to both the validity of traditional and rational-legal authority.
    • Barack Obama, President of the United States, derives his authority from a rational-legal system of laws outlined in a formal document, the Constitution of the United States of America.

  • Models of Bureaucracy

    • Many scholars have described rationalization and the question of individual freedom as the main theme of Weber's work.
    • Bureaucratization for Weber was the key part of the rational-legal authority.
    • He saw it as the key process in the ongoing rationalization of Western society.
    • Many aspects of modern public administration go back to him and a classic, hierarchically organised civil service of the Continental type is called "Weberian civil service". [98] As the most efficient and rational way of organising, bureaucratisation for Weber was the key part of the rational-legal authority and furthermore, he saw it as the key process in the ongoing rationalisation of the Western society.
    • Compare and contrast the different types of authority according to Max Weber and how these relate to bureaucracy

  • Authority

    • Without authority, Britain's power had to be backed by force.
    • Legitimacy is vital to the notion of authority; legitimacy is the main means by which authority is distinguished from more general notions of power.
    • The first type discussed by Weber is rational-legal authority.
    • The second type of authority is traditional authority, which derives from long-established customs, habits, and social structures.
    • The third form of authority is charismatic authority.

  • Charismatic Authority

    • Charismatic authority is power legitimized by a leader's exceptional personal qualities, which inspire loyalty and obedience from followers.
    • Charismatic leaders gain authority not because they are necessarily kind, but because they are seen as superhuman.
    • Charismatic authority is one of three forms of authority laid out in Max Weber's tripartite classification of authority.
    • Charismatic authority almost always evolves in the context of boundaries set by traditional or rational-legal authority, but by its nature tends to challenge this authority, and is thus often seen as revolutionary.
    • Routinization is the process by which "charismatic authority is succeeded by a bureaucracy controlled by a rationally established authority or by a combination of traditional and bureaucratic authority. "

  • Traditional Authority

    • Traditional authority refers to a form of leadership in which authority derives from tradition or custom.
    • For example, historically, kings derived their authority from tradition.
    • Traditional authority is a type of leadership in which the authority of a ruling regime is largely tied to tradition or custom.
    • In sociology, the concept of traditional authority comes from Max Weber's tripartite classification of authority.
    • In addition to traditional authority, Weber claimed that the other two styles of authority were charismatic authority and rational-legal authority.

  • The Growth of Bureaucracy

    • Development of communication and transportation technologies made more efficient administration possible (and popularly requested) and democratization and rationalization of culture resulted in demands that the new system treat everybody equally.
    • As Weber understood, particularly during the industrial revolution of the late 19th century, society was being driven by the passage of rational ideas into culture that in turn transformed society into an increasingly bureaucratic entity.
    • Bureaucracy is a type of organizational or institutional management that is, as Weber understood it, rooted in legal-rational authority.
    • Weber did believe bureaucracy was the most rational form of institutional governance, but because Weber viewed rationalization as the driving force of society, he believed bureaucracy would increase until it ruled society.

  • State Formation

    • In fact, for most of human history, people have lived in stateless societies, characterized by a lack of concentrated authority, and the absence of large inequalities in economic and political power.
    • Yet another theory of state formation focuses on the long, slow, process of rationalization and bureaucratization that began with the invention of writing.
    • In Medieval Europe, feudalism furthered the rationalization and formalization of the state.
    • The Medieval state was organized by Estates, or parliaments in which key social groups negotiated with the king about legal and economic matters.
    • Discuss the formation of states and centralization of authority in modern history

  • The Freedmen's Bureau

    • It was passed on March 3, 1865, by Congress to aid former slaves through legal food and housing, oversight, education, health care, and employment contracts with private landowners.
    • It soon became, in effect, a military court that handled legal issues.
    • The Bureau distributed 15 million rations of food to African Americans, and set up a system where planters could borrow rations in order to feed freedmen they employed.
    • Many local Bureau agents were hindered in carrying out their duties by the opposition of former Confederates, and lacked a military presence to enforce their authority.