What do you understand by authority ? What are the basis of legitimating power.

I. Meaning of Authority: Authority is an exercise of influence, which is voluntarily accepted by the persons on whom it is exercised. The authority is a legitimate power. Generally the head of the state in modern societies is an authority. The author, thus, is a socially recognized influence.

II. The basis of the legitimatising power: When the power is legitimatized it becomes authority. Only then it is accepted by people voluntarily.

Max Webers points out three bases of legitimation of power and classifies three corresponding types of authority.

The authorities are:

(a) the traditional authority

(b) the charismatic authortiy and

(c) the legal-rational authority

(a) Traditional Authority: The traditional authority is that which people obey by habit. They accept the power of someone simply because it has been done so in the past. It has become a tradition.

Example : The tribal chief, the king or feudal lord of the medieval period or the head of the traditional patriarchal family are the example of traditional authority. This kind of authority is personal and irrational.

(b) Charismatic Authority : It is the second basis of power. People also behave willingly under the inluence of a person who possess some extraordinary qualities. They obey the person due to their faith in and respect for him. The charismatic authority is personal and rational in nature.

(c) Legal-rational base : The authority in the modern industrial society is legal rational type. This authority is formal and its privileges are limited and defined by law. The real power lies not in the person who wields it but in the position or the chair he occupies. The administrative staff of the state is an example of this category. This authority is impersonal and rational in nature.