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Charismatic authority, as defined by the sociologist Max Weber, is one of three forms of authority laid out in Weber's tripartite classification of authority, the other two being traditional authority and rational-legal authority. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Maximilian Weber (April 21, 1864 – June 14, 1920) was a German political economist and sociologist who is considered one of the founders of the modern, antipositivistic study of sociology and public administration. ... Sociology is the study of the social lives of humans, groups and societies. ... Maximilian Weber (April 21, 1864 – June 14, 1920) was a German political economist and sociologist who is considered one of the founders of the modern, antipositivistic study of sociology and public administration. ... In politics, authority generally refers to the ability to make laws, independent of the power to enforce them, or the ability to permit something. ... Max Weber distinguished three ideal types of political leadership, domination and authority: charismatic domination (familial and religious), traditional domination (patriarchs, patrimonalism, feudalism) and legal domination (modern law and state, bureaucracy). ... Traditional authority (also known as traditional domination) is a form of leadership in which the authority of an organization or a ruling regime is largely tied to the tradition. ... Rational-legal authority (also known as rational authority, legal authority, rational domination, legal domination) 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. ...

Characteristics

Charismatic authority is 'power legitimized on the basis of a leader's exceptional personal qualities or the demonstration of extraordinary insight and accomplishment, which inspire loyalty and obedience from followers' (Kendall, Murray, Linden, 2000). As such, it rests almost entirely on the leader; the absence of that leader for any reason can lead to the authority's power dissolving. The word charisma (from the Greek word kharisma or gift), is often used to describe an ability to charm or influence people. ... In common usage, leadership generally refers to: the position or office of an authority figure, such as a President [1] a group of influential people, such as a union leadership [2] guidance or direction, as in the phrase the emperor is not providing much leadership capacity or ability to lead...

Due to its idiosyncratic nature and lack of formal organization, charismatic authority depends much more strongly on the perceived legitimacy of the authority than Weber’s other forms of authority. For instance, a charismatic leader in a religious context might require an unchallenged belief that the leader has been touched by God, in the sense of a guru or prophet. [1] However, should the strength of this belief fade, the power of the charismatic leader can fade quickly, which is one of the ways in which this form of authority shows itself to be unstable. In contrast to the current popular use of the term charismatic leader, Weber saw charismatic authority not so much as character traits of the charismatic leader but as a relationship between the leader and his followers. An organization (U.S. spelling) or organisation (U.K. spelling) is a formal group of people with one or more shared goals. ... The word legitimacy comes from the Latin word legitimare and it has two uses: Legitimacy (political science) is whether or not people accept the validity of a law or ruling or the validity of a governing regime. ... Fishers of men; Oil on panel by Adriaen van de Venne (1614) Religion (see etymology below) —sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system—is commonly defined as belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine, and the moral codes, practices, values, institutions and rituals associated with such belief. ... Look up belief in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The term God is capitalized in the English language as a proper noun when used to refer to a specific monotheistic concept of a Supreme Being in accordance with Christian, Jewish (sometimes as G-d - cf. ... A guru (गुरू Sanskrit) is a teacher in Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. ... In numerous religions, including Abrahamic religions, Jah religions, Sikhism, and many forms of Paganism, a prophet is an intermediary with a deity, particularly someone who claims to speak for the deity or interprets the deitys will or mind. ...

According to the sociologist Eileen Barker at the London School of Economics charismatic leaders of new religious movements are unpredictable. ^{[2] [3]} Eileen Barker is a professor in sociology and is an emeritus member of the London School of Economics, and a consultant to that institutions Centre for the Study of Human Rights at. ... The London School of Economics and Political Science, often referred to as the London School of Economics or simply the LSE, is a specialist university based in London, often regarded as the worlds most prestigious social science institution with unrivalled diversity. ... A new religious movement or NRM is a religious, ethical, or spiritual grouping of fairly recent origin which is not part of an established religion and has not (yet) become recognised as a standard denomination, church, or religious body. ...

Note that according to Weber, a charismatic leader does not have to be a positive force; thus, both Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler could be reasonably considered charismatic leaders. The Right Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, FRS PC (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ...   Adolf Hitler[?] (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 and Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Chancellor) of Germany from 1934 to his death. ...

Routinizing charisma

Charismatic authority almost always evolves in the context of examples of traditional or rational-legal authority which provide forms and boundaries, but by its nature tends to challenge currently accepted forms of authority and thus is often seen as revolutionary. [4] However, the constant challenge that charismatic authority presents to older forms of authority must eventually either subside or be incorporated into the society. The way in which this happens is called routinization. The word charisma (from the Greek word kharisma or gift), is often used to describe an ability to charm or influence people. ... A revolutionary is a person who either advocates or actively engages in some kind of revolution. ...

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’ (Turney, Beeghley, and Powers, 1995 cited in Kendal et al. 2000). For example, the Prophet Muhammad was succeeded by the traditional authority and structure of Islam, a clear example of routinization. In numerous religions, including Abrahamic religions, Jah religions, Sikhism, and many forms of Paganism, a prophet is an intermediary with a deity, particularly someone who claims to speak for the deity or interprets the deitys will or mind. ... Muhammad is a common Muslim male name. ... ISLAM IS A DIRTY EXTREMIST RELIGON TILL DATE.   Islam[?] (Arabic: الإسلام al-islām) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions, and the worlds second largest religion. ...

Some leaders may employ various tools to create and extend their charismatic authority, for example utilizing the science of public relations. Public relations (PR) is the means and industry of influencing public opinion towards an organization and its products or services. ...

As in the example of Islam, 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 type of authority upon the removal of that leader. A priesthood is a body of priests, shamans, or oracles who are thought to have special religious authority or function. ...

In politics, charismatic rule is often found in various authoritarian states, autocracies, dictatorships and theocracies. In order to help to maintain their charismatic authority, such regimes will often establish a vast personality cult, which can be seen as an attempt to lend legitimacy by an appeal to other forms of authority. When the leader of such a state dies or leaves office and a new charismatic leader does not appear, such regime is likely to fall shortly afterwards if it is unable to survive without the personal attraction of the ruler, or it may become routinized as described above. The term authoritarian is used to describe an organization or a state which enforces strong and sometimes oppressive measures against the population, generally without attempts at gaining the consent of the population. ... BoB Dole Says BoB Dole Says BoB Dole Says BoB Dole Says Autocracy is a form of government in which unlimited power is held by a single individual. ... Dictatorship, in contemporary usage, refers to absolute rule by a leadership (usually one dictator) unrestricted by law, constitutions, or other social and political factors within the state. ... The term theocracy is used to describe a form of government in which a religion or faith plays a dominant role. ... Adolf Hitler built a strong cult of personality, based on the Führerprinzip. ...

Religious charismatic leaders

Some charismatic religious leaders include

• Prem Rawat, known to his students as Maharaji. In a paper published in 1982, the sociologist Dr. Paul Schnabel asserted that his leadership was an ideal type of charismatic authority ^[5]
• Bhagwan (also called Rajneesh and later Osho) -- ditto

Prem Pal Singh Rawat (born December 10, 1957 in Dehradun near Haridwar, India). ... Ideal type, also know as pure type, or idealtyp (in the original German), is an typological term invented by sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920). ... Rajneesh Chandra Mohan Jain (December 11, 1931 - January 19, 1990), better known during the 1970s as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and later as Osho, lived in India and the United States and was the founder and leader of the Osho-Rajneesh movement, a controversial new religious movement. ...

Political charismatic leaders

Some notable charismatic rulers in history include:

• Alexander the Great
• Julius Caesar
• Fidel Castro
• Adolf Hitler -- according to the historian Ian Kershaw, Hitler's leadership was an ideal type of charismatic authority.
• Mao Zedong
• Mahatma Gandhi
• John F Kennedy
• Vladimir Lenin

Alexander the Great fighting the Persian king Darius (Pompeii mosaic, from a 3rd century BC original Greek painting, now lost). ... Bust of Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (Classical Latin: IMP·C·IVLIVS·CAESAR·DIVVS¹) (b. ... Cuban President Fidel Castro. ...   Adolf Hitler[?] (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 and Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and Chancellor) of Germany from 1934 to his death. ... A historian is a person who studies history. ... For the British actor, please see Ian Kershaw (actor). ... Leadership can refer both to the process of leading, and to those entities that do the leading. ... Ideal type, also know as pure type, or idealtyp (in the original German), is an typological term invented by sociologist Max Weber (1864-1920). ... The word charisma (from the Greek word kharisma or gift), is often used to describe an ability to charm or influence people. ...   Mao Zedong[?] (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976; Mao Tse-tung in Wade-Giles) was the chairman of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China from 1943 and the chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China from 1945 until his death. ... Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (October 2, 1869–January 30, 1948) (Devanagari : मोहनदास करमचन्द गांधी, Gujarati મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી) was a national icon who led the struggle for Indias independence from British colonial rule, empowered by tens of millions of common Indians. ... JFK redirects here. ... Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Russian: Влади́мир Ильи́ч Ле́нин   listen[?]), original surname Ulyanov (Улья́нов) (April 22 (April 10 (O.S.)), 1870 – January 21, 1924), was a Russian revolutionary, the leader of the Bolshevik party, the first Premier of the Soviet Union, and the main theorist of Leninism, which he described as an adaptation of Marxism to...

See also

• The Three Types of Legitimate Rule
• Statesman
• List of messiah claimants
• List of people who have said they are a god
• Charisma
• Guru
• Leader -- Leadership

The Three Types of Legitimate Rule is a book written by Max Weber, a German economist and sociologist. ... The term statesman is a respectful term used to refer to diplomats, politicians, and other notable figures of state. ... This is a list of people who have been said to be a messiah either by themselves, or by their followers. ... This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it. ... The word charisma (from the Greek word kharisma or gift), is often used to describe an ability to charm or influence people. ... A guru (गुरू Sanskrit) is a teacher in Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. ... In common usage, leadership generally refers to: the position or office of an authority figure, such as a President [1] a group of influential people, such as a union leadership [2] guidance or direction, as in the phrase the emperor is not providing much leadership capacity or ability to lead... Leadership can refer both to the process of leading, and to those entities that do the leading. ...

References

1. Kendall, Diana, Jane Lothian Murray, and Rick Linden. 2000. Sociology in our time (2nd ed.). Scarborough, On: Nelson, 438-439.
2. Charismatic Authority: Emotional Bonds Between Leaders and Followers
3. Weber links

• ^  Barker, E New Religious Movements (London: HMSO, 1992), page 13
• ^ Schnabel, Paul Dr. (Dutch language) Between stigma and charisma: new religious movements and mental health Erasmus university Rotterdam, Faculty of Medicine, Ph.D. thesis, ISBN 90-6001-746-3 (Deventer, Van Loghum Slaterus, 1982)