SOC 1100 Chapter Notes - Chapter 17: The Power Elite
17 Dec 2011
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Max weber claimed that every society is based on power, which he defines as the ability to achieve desired ends despite resistance from others. The use of power is the business or government, a formal organization that directs the political life of a society. Authority: power that people perceive as legitimate not coercive. Pre-industrial societies rely on traditional authority: power legitimized by respect for long-established cultural patterns means that people accept a system, simply b/c it has always been that way. Rational-legal authority: power legitimize by legally enacted rules & regulations. Weber viewed bureaucracy as the type of organization that dominates in rational thinking, modern societies. Charismatic authority: is power legitimized by extraordinary personal abilities that inspire devotion & obedience. Depends less on people"s ancestry or office, and more on individual personality. Routinization of charisma: the transformation of charismatic authority into some combination of traditional & bureaucratic authority. Agrarian societies are larger, with specialized jobs and a material surplus.
