SOCY 151: Foundations of Modern Social Theory
Lecture 20 - Weber on Legal-Rational Authority. The purest form - the ideal type - of Weber's legal-rational type of authority is bureaucracy. Legal-rational authority indicates that authority is invested in a set of rules and rule-bound institutions and that the creating and changing the rules are outside of the control of those who administer them; it does not mean, however, that the authority is democratic. Monarchs and even authoritarian leaders who recognize a set of laws external to their powers govern using legal-rational authority. The characteristics of bureaucracy include a fixed salary, posts based on technical skill rather than personal connections, a well-defined hierarchy, and continuous rules which bind the behavior of administrators and citizens or clients alike. (from oyc.yale.edu)
| Lecture 20 - Weber on Legal-Rational Authority |
| Time | Lecture Chapters |
| [00:00:00] | 1. Introduction to Weber's Theory on Legal Rational Authority |
| [00:04:00] | 2. Pure Type of Legal Rational Authority |
| [00:18:17] | 3. The Bureaucracy |
| [00:37:58] | 4. Limitations of Bureaucratic Authority |
| References |
| Lecture 20 - Weber on Legal-Rational Authority Instructor: Professor Ivan Szelenyi. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov]. |
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