According to Weber, there are three types of authority. However, before I discuss the three types of authority, what makes authority legitimate? I believe what makes authority legitimate in our society is the fact that when people interact with one another there is always some sort of silent battle for control or leadership. An example would be group projects. When a group of students get into a group, more than likely you would have one person who volunteers to be the leader or who takes charge of the “meeting”. This establishes some sort of order within the group and everyone, for the most part, is okay with it, because as long as someone is in control and is making sure everything is going good, nothing can go wrong, right? Most of the time we put our trust into a person that we barely know just because they have some sort of authority or that they “act” like they have authority. To us this is the natural thing to do because of the way our society’s rules and justifications are. People automatically assume that when a person has authority they are fully knowledgeable about whatever they have power over and believe that if they do not abide by what the authoritative person says, then there would be some consequences. Moreover, for the most part, it is true, but people have to realize that just because a person has authority does not mean they are using it correctly. However, if you take away authority, who will be watching others to make sure they are doing their jobs? Who will be making sure that certain things are being done correctly? Take authority away and, of course, there will be chaos.
Now, there are three types of authority that people should be aware of. The three types of authority are traditional authority, legal rational authority, and charismatic authority. Traditional authority is when authority, or the right to rule, is passed down from one generation to another generation. An example of someone who has benefited from traditional authority is a King or Queen. Usually if a man’s father was king, then he would most likely be king also, unless he was not the first-born son, in that case he was in another authoritative position. The second type of authority is legal rational authority. Legal rational authority is mostly prevalent in retail or department stores. In these types of places, you can watch how everyone who works has a certain position and knowledge for their job, but outside of that. In other words, employees have authority based on their skills, knowledge, and what their title is in the workplace. The third type of authority is charismatic authority. An example of someone who greatly benefits from charismatic authority is the President of the United States. Face it; if a potential presidential candidate cannot make a decent speech or know how to speak properly, then he should just drop out the race because no one will vote for him. When people listen to a presidential candidate, or any type of political candidate, they want someone who can get a message across to the audience. They have to be able to woo the crowd with their voice and mannerism, and show the people that they can form a sentence so well that it might not even make sense. This just goes to show that if you have great charisma, then you can talk your way out of anything or into something you want; for the most part.
Now, there are three types of authority that people should be aware of. The three types of authority are traditional authority, legal rational authority, and charismatic authority. Traditional authority is when authority, or the right to rule, is passed down from one generation to another generation. An example of someone who has benefited from traditional authority is a King or Queen. Usually if a man’s father was king, then he would most likely be king also, unless he was not the first-born son, in that case he was in another authoritative position. The second type of authority is legal rational authority. Legal rational authority is mostly prevalent in retail or department stores. In these types of places, you can watch how everyone who works has a certain position and knowledge for their job, but outside of that. In other words, employees have authority based on their skills, knowledge, and what their title is in the workplace. The third type of authority is charismatic authority. An example of someone who greatly benefits from charismatic authority is the President of the United States. Face it; if a potential presidential candidate cannot make a decent speech or know how to speak properly, then he should just drop out the race because no one will vote for him. When people listen to a presidential candidate, or any type of political candidate, they want someone who can get a message across to the audience. They have to be able to woo the crowd with their voice and mannerism, and show the people that they can form a sentence so well that it might not even make sense. This just goes to show that if you have great charisma, then you can talk your way out of anything or into something you want; for the most part.