Political Science 1020E Chapter Notes - Chapter 4 and 9: Economic Democracy, Charismatic Authority
30 Jan 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Legitimacy confers on an order or command an authoritative or binding character, thus transforming power into authority. Political philosophers treat legitimacy as a moral or rational principle; that is, as the grounds aon which governments may demand obedience from citizens. The claim to legitimacy is thus more important than the fact of obedience. Political scientists, however, usually see legitimacy in sociological terms; that is, as a willingness to comply with a system of rule regardless of how this is achieved. Tradition may refer to anything that is handed down or transmitted from the past to the present. This continuity is usually understood to link the generations, although the line between the traditional and the merely fashionable is often indistinct. Tradtional societies are often contrasted with modern ones, the former being structured on the basis of status and by supposedly organic hierarchies, and the latter on the basis of contractual agreement and by democratic processes.
