Authority in Politics

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According to Max Weber, authority is legitimate power or power that is accepted as right by the people (Henslin, 2012). Coercion on the other hand is illegitimate power that is not accepted by the people (Henslin, 2012). In every situation a person is in, someone has the authority. Not everyone has the same type of authority. There are three main types: traditional, rational-legal, and charismatic. Of the three types of authority, our president has one, and each political leader has at least one or more.
There are three types of authority: traditional, rational-legal, and charismatic (Henslin, 2012). Traditional authority is where custom governs relationships (Henslin, 2012). For example, a man or women is pronounced royalty through birth (Henslin, 2012). Ration-legal authority (also known as bureaucratic authority) is based on written rules (Henslin, 2012). Charismatic authority is based on attraction of a leader’s traits (Henslin, 2012). For example, a man with soothing words and has a persuasive tongue can make a crowd do just about anything he wants them to do. The category I b...

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