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Flip to reveal answersWhat are Weber's three sources of legitimacy?
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All 11 Flashcards — Sources of legitimacy
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Question
What are Weber's three sources of legitimacy?
Answer
Traditional (long-standing custom), charismatic (a leader's personal magnetism) and legal-rational (rules, laws and holding proper office).
Question
What is traditional legitimacy?
Answer
The right to rule from long-standing custom, such as an inherited monarchy — 'it has always been this way'.
Question
What is charismatic legitimacy?
Answer
The right to rule from a leader's personal, inspiring qualities that win loyalty.
Question
What is legal-rational legitimacy?
Answer
The right to rule from laws, rules and holding a proper office — the basis of most modern states.
Question
What is a democratic mandate?
Answer
The legitimacy a government gains from winning free and fair elections.
Question
What is performance legitimacy?
Answer
The right to rule earned by delivering results like economic growth and stability, rather than through elections.
Question
Why is China a good example?
Answer
It holds no free national elections, so it rests much of its legitimacy on decades of growth and stability — performance legitimacy.
Question
Why do most rulers mix sources?
Answer
Different sources reinforce each other — a democracy uses legal-rational rules, a democratic mandate and performance together.
Question
Why is performance legitimacy fragile?
Answer
It is conditional — it lasts only as long as the results do, so a downturn or crisis can quickly erode it.
Question
Which sources are most durable?
Answer
Legal-rational and democratic sources are renewable and outlast leaders; performance and charisma are powerful but fragile.
Question
Who was Max Weber?
Answer
The thinker who set out the three classic sources of legitimacy — traditional, charismatic and legal-rational.
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Topic 1.5 hub
Legitimacy
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