Economy and Society (1922) - Weber Flashcards
What is the difference between domination and legitimacy?
Domination: exercise of power, probability of someone obeying the command
Legitimacy: the manner in which domination is established and legitimised (don’t need force or violence or threat)
authority : the legitimate basis for such domination.
What are the three forms of legal authority?
- Traditional
- Legal-rational
- Charismatic
What is traditional legitimacy?
Legitimacy is claimed and believed by the virtue of the sanctity of age-old traditions and powers
Examples: Monarchy, Patrimonialism (patron-client relationship, government is the patron and the people is its client), Patriarchy, Religion, Gerontocracy
What is legal-rational legitimacy?
Acquired from law and constructed from the reliance on society’s rules and laws. This type of authority has the confidence to leave the right of leaders to undertake decisions and set policy.
Resting on a belief in the legality of enacted rules and the right of those elevated to authority under such rules to issue command
- forms the basis of modern democracies
- Legal norms established by agreement on consistent and abstract rules; Members obey within capacity
- Authority is subjected to rules too
- usually tied to calculability, rationalism and capitalism because the capitalist market economy demands public administration to be discharged as efficiently as possible.
- based on rules, laws, and procedures.
Leaders derive their power from their position within a legal framework - Examples include democratic systems like Singapore’s meritocratic bureaucracy.
What are the types of bureaucracy that is characterised by legal-rational legitimacy?
Collegial Bureaucratic: clear hierarchy, defined sphere of competence, free contractual relationship (you only have one job), selected on technical qualifications, salaries are fixed; you have education and training so you can rise higher (e.g. meritocracy in Singapore)
Monocratic bureaucracy (the most advanced form of rationality according to Weber): Highest degree of efficiency, domination through technical knowledge, Tied to capitalism (Problems with this: Plutocracy, level by class, impersonal)
What is charismatic legitimacy?
Authority is derived from divine origin; Legitimacy is based on the leader’s exceptional qualities or extraordinary accomplishments, inspiring loyalty and obedience from followers. Recognition is freely given and is freely taken away; Emotional communal relationship; Great Revolutionary force
- Problem with charismatic: exists for a short while and power of the religion/organisation is taken away when the leader dies
- Examples: Lee Kuan Yew, Joseph Smith, Hitler (who came to power shortly after the publication of Economic & Society)
How is Weber’s types of legitimacy misapplied in the Phillippines?
Phillippines is a failed state because they did not live up to rational-legal standards but they are traditional (Hutchcroft)
But how can you say Phillippines is traditional authority if (according to Weber) traditional means being uneducated and untrained?
Instead of examining the patron-client relationship between the US and the Philippines, one can examine the patrimonialism within Philippines that pushed many Fillipinos to the US
What are examples of attributing Weber to Orientalism?
modern capitalism could only emerge in the West because it required an attitude of commercial gain and profit (spirit of capitalism) which emerged from Protestantism in Europe
many academics presume Weber saw capitalism as an advanced, progressive economic system and thus, it is “good and desirable”, and making Western society seem superior in this aspect
How does the institutionalisation of legal-rational authority lead to iron cage of rationality?
institutionalisation of legal-rational authority in the form of bureaucracy (highly structured, formalised and impersonal organisation)
lead to organisation being inflicted by excessive bureaucratisation (specialisation, hierarchy, rules, impersonality)
develop pathologies of bureaucratic organisation - not allowing for variation in performance and thus, there is little scope for initiative and creativity
What is Weber’s definition of sociology in Economy and Society?
Sociology is “a science which attempts the interpretive understanding of social action in order thereby to arrive at a causal explanation of its course and effects.”
What does Weber mean by “social action”?
Social action occurs when the acting individual attaches subjective meaning to their behavior, and this meaning is oriented toward the behavior of others.
What are ideal types, according to Weber?
Abstract models that emphasize specific aspects of a phenomenon.
They are tools for analysis and do not exist in reality.
“Ideal types are like unicorns—beautiful—but they do not exist.”
Meaning: They are theoretical constructs, not empirical realities.
What role does corruption play in patron-client relationships, as discussed by Weber?
In systems like the Philippines, patron-client relationships (e.g., “utang na loob”) create a culture of dependence and inefficiency.
These relationships hinder modernization and economic progress.
What is the Singapore model of authority, and how does it reflect Weberian ideas?
Combines traditional values with rational-legal authority.
Emphasizes discipline, pragmatism, and meritocracy to ensure economic success and social cohesion.
Why should Weber’s theories be applied cautiously to Southeast Asia?
His theories were developed for Western contexts and may not fully account for cultural and historical differences in SEA.
Applying his ideas universally risks oversimplification.
