Charismatic authority is a form of religious or political leadership and authority largely tied to the popularity and charisma of a single leader. This sometimes ivolves a personality cult.

A charismatic ruler is thus not simply obeyed but rather is followed and respected.

Charismatic authority in sociology

In sociology, the concept of charismatic authority (also known as domination) comes from Max Weber's tripartite classification of authority, the other two forms being traditional authority and rational-legal authority. All of those three domination types represent an example of his ideal type concept. Weber noted that it in history those ideal types of domination are always found in combinations.

In traditional authority, the legitimacy of the authority comes from tradition, in charismatic authority from the personality and leadership qualities of the individual, and in rational-legal authority from powers that are bureaucratically and legally attached to certain positions.

According to Weber, the idea of charismatic authority emerged from the sociology of religion, and is particularly associated with new religious movements (including cults) led by a charismatic individual (e.g. a prophet or a guru), who can create laws by his decrees that are sometimes based on revelations that he receives, gives upadesh (instruction), or gives advices to his followers that ardent followers may see as absolute commands.

A religion which evolves its own priesthood and establishes a set of laws and rules is likely to lose its charismatic character and move towards another ideal type of domination, especially upon a death of the prophet. Such a religion will then usually oppose to new prophets and their law creation.

In politics, charismatic rule is often found in various authoritarian states, autocracies, dictatorships and theocracies. In order to maintain their charismatic authority, such regimes will often establish a vast personality cult, in which inspiring images of the leader are plastered all over the country. When the leader of such state dies or leaves office and a new charismatic leader does not appear, such regime is likely to:

• fall shortly afterwards, unable to survive without the personal attraction of the ruler (consider the example of Alexander the Great empire, which fell apart upon his death)

or

• lose its charismatic character and move towards another ideal type of domination (consider the example of Roman Empire after the death of Soviet Union after era's of Lenin and Stalin)

One of those scenarios does not exclude the other.

Religious charismatic leaders

Some famous charismatic leaders in religion include:

• Gautama Buddha
• John Calvin
• Jesus
• Martin Luther
• Muhammad
• Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
• Adi Sankara
• Joseph Smith
• Swami Vivekananda also had some tradional authority based on his lineage from Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
• Sathya Sai Baba
• Jim Jones started with some traditional authority because he was a minister in a church affiliated with the Disciples of Christ since 1955 and became an ordained minister in 1964 but veered off from mainstream Christian teachings and started a struggle for racial equality and social justice, which he dubbed "apostolic socialism". He claimed to be the reincarnation of Lenin and performed fake miracle healings to attract new members. Members of Jones' Peoples Temple called Jones Dad and believed that their movement was the solution to the problems of society and many did not distinguish Jones from the movement. It has been argued that Jones' authority waned after he moved to the isolated commune called Jonestown because there he was not needed anymore for recruitment and he could not hide his drug addiction from rank and file members. ¹ Consequently he lost some his power to inner-circle members.

According to Eileen Barker charismatic leaders of new religious movements are unpredictable. ²

Political charismatic leaders

Some notable charismatic rulers in history include:

• Alexander the Great, King of Macedon; he united the warring and divided city states of Greece and conquered Persia, Egypt and a number of other kingdoms, all the way to the borders of India

• Julius Caesar, a Roman military and political leader. He became dictator for life, and heavily centralized the already faltering government of the weak Roman Republic.

• Fidel Castro, a Cuban revolutionary turned dictator whose dress and speeches continue to glorify the revolution that brought him to power four decades ago.

• Adolf Hitler, a passionate and skilled public speaker. Apart from his charismatic authority in the Nazi party, he also was its formal leader. He acquired national, rational-legal authority when he became the chancellor of Germany in 1933 and even more when he became the head of state in 1934. His charismatic authority on a national level declined gradually when it became clearer and clearer in the course of WWII that Germany would lose the war.

• Juan Peron, a former soldier whose beautiful wife Evita captured the hearts of the Argentine poor with her glamour and style.

• Mao Zedong, an enigmatic philosopher and Marxist ideologue whose "little red book" of ideas inspired a virtual army of followers.

See also

• Guruism
• List of messiah claimants
• List of people claiming to be deities
• Statesman
• The Three Types of Legitimate Rule

References

1. McCormick Maaga, Mary, Hearing the voices of Jonestown Syracuse university press (1998) ISBN 0-8156-0515-3
2. Barker, E New Religious Movements (London: HMSO, 1992), page 13

External links

• Unrecognized charisma? A study and comparison of four charismatic leaders: Charles Taze Russell, Joseph Smith, L Ron Hubbard, Swami Prabhupada. by George D. Chryssides (http://www.cesnur.org/2001/london2001/chryssides.htm) Paper presented at the 2001 International Conference The Spiritual Supermarket: Religious Pluralism in the 21st Century, organised by INFORM and CESNUR (London, April 19-22, 2001)
• Introducing New Religious Movements, by Eileen Barker, from the London School of Economics (http://www.fathom.com/feature/121938/) Text of an interview with her, plus downloadable video of the interview