Sociological Authority

Max Weber identified three classifications of authority: traditional, charismatic and legal-rational authority. Traditional authority is based on traditional customs and values, such as a monarchy. Charismatic authority is based on one's personal traits and likeability. Legal-rational authority is based on the office one holds, such as that of the Prime Minister of Canada (as cited in Garner, Ferdinand, Lawson & MacDonald, 2009). Understanding Weber's classifications of authority will be beneficial when analysing how Trudeaumania proved to be advantageous for Pierre Trudeau in his quest for political power.

The idea of authority, which

Hey Faye! Let me say, that I checked your office hours and you have bloody awful ones (no offense!). There is no way (unless by magic) I'll ever get to see you which makes me sad. :c

After having read the first three chapters of “You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking Like A Sociologist,” I easily discovered that I have been a budding sociologist since I began forming my own thoughts. A sociologist questions everything and tries to relate the unknown, and I do that on a daily basis. Three specific ways in which I have noticed myself thinking like a sociologist have involved the Conflict Theory, the Reflection Theory, and the idea of “positivism.”

Generally speaking, unless someone has been living under a rock; it is clear that the subject of authority is exceedingly controversial in our current society. There are many ways to perceive just the word authority. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word authority as “the power to give orders or make decisions: the power or right to direct or control someone or something” and or “the confident quality of someone who knows a lot about something or who is respected or obeyed by other people.” From this we can gather a few things. First, there are three forms of authority according to Merriam-Webster dictionary; the right to authority, the power to have authority, and respect to have authority. The right to authority indicates

Sociology is the study which seeks to understand society, social life and to understand ourselves, humans, as part of that social world [Giddens, A, 2006, p.2]. The term ‘sociology’ was developed by Auguste Comte, a French philosopher, in 1838. Comte believed that scientific facts are able to explain the social world. Sociologists, such as Comte, study issues including: education, inequality and religion. Comte believed that sociologists play crucial roles in guiding society. In the 18th century the ‘Enlightenment’, which was a philosophical movement that stressed human reasoning over bling faith and obedience. At the time it was different to the religious and political order, as it encouraged a ‘scientific’ was of thinking. Political

The purpose of this essay is to analyse Weber’s theory of authority and power in order to establish its role in the modern contemporary world today. Weber, in his most acclaimed writings, discusses his three ideal types of authority being outlined as traditional, charismatic and rational-legal authority. He believes that in order for any political leader or political establishment to hold legitimate authority over its peoples, they must have either one of these types of authority. All of these types of power and authority can be referred to in some way in today’s contemporary world using examples of differing political leaders and systems. However, Weber’s writings were conducted in 1922 and may be considered as out-dated, and not as relevant as they were at his time of writing. Also, many dispute that Weber’s types of authority were perhaps not entirely relatable and Martin Spencer, like many other critics of Weber’s work in fact argue that there should have been four types of authority. Hence why these issues must be discussed in order to conclude whether Weber’s ideal types of authority are representative of political leaders and governments, and whether or not they can be associated with the contemporary world we live in today.

According to Durkheim, Social fact or social phenomenon are the main subject matter of sociology. He said in one of his pieces that social fact must be studied distinct from the biological and psychological phenomenon. Social order is the trend of behavior being used to exercise power over another person. It has become rules and regulations that have been set up by some authorities to be obeyed by another group of people who are being undermined in a society, it is a situation that oppressed people and limits them from their liberties. When people go through these situations they cannot function the way they are supposed to function because they are limited by their freedom. These social orders are not only laws but rather certain norms created by the authority to put a whole race into a situation where they are very far from freedom of speech, movement, and knowledge. African Americans are an example of a race that has been through discrimination at workplaces, schools, community etc. They are one race which has been a label or put in a class where the situation will never permit you to climb the ladder of success. Although you might have all the certification, qualification, the best schools, etc. but the fact that you came from the poor class or the lower class, it becomes very difficult for the Caucasian people to give you the opportunity you deserve, because of this, the citizens of American have been grouped into different classes which are upper, middle, working,

As I grew older and was old enough to vote, I noticed that a lot of the peers in my high school had the predisposition that they shouldn’t vote because they believed that their vote wouldn’t make a difference. This way of thinking is often common amongst groups of people who are in lower income brackets because they often feel discouraged about their current financial situations and don’t believe that they have the power to get their own way. Power is defined by Henslin as a person’s ability to have control or influence even when faced with opposition (Henslin, 2017, p. G-6). C. Wright Mills used the term power elite to describe the “top” group of people within US businesses, politics, and military who are involved in making big decisions regarding the United States (Henslin, 2017, p. 230). This ideology follows the belief that this group of elites hold so much power in the United States that our government will not make any major decisions without their approval.

The first is Traditional which focuses on the presence of a dominant figure. This person depends on tradition, follows everyday routine. Charismatic authority focuses on the charisma of the leading figure, for example his unique qualities. Last but not least, Legal-Rational, a person who has the authority because they were elected through legal procedures.

For weber power is determined as something that when imposed, then a person has to follow it. For Weber domination is the probability that persons will obey commands. Weber mentioned power as being ‘ sociologically amorphous’. (Roth and Wittich, 1968) The probability of a command being accepted mainly relates to the surroundings of domination. An example of this is that, a supervisor could expect his colleague to obey his sayings but when they meet outside the business then the supervisor is unlikely to have such an expectation (Watson, 2003).

“In the world we now live, divisions into class are meaningless. We are all working people now.”(Margaret Thatcher in 1988) The discussion that if Britain is becoming a classless society last for a long time. Britain was a typical manufacturing country because of industrial revolution in 18 century. Then the class structure of Britain was changed due to the globalization and economic system which changed from industrial to service during 19th and 20th century. In this easy, we focus on the change of social class in Britain. It will begin with the theories (Marxism, Weber theory and functionalism) of social class .Following this, it will look at the changes of social class. Finally, it will discuss weather the class of Britain will be dead.

The principles of the sociological scientific method include professional competence, integrity, professional and scientific responsibility, respect for people’s dignity, and diversity, and social responsibility. Sociologists have the ability to modify the structures of a society based on their research alone, meaning that sociologists have an immense amount of power. As a sociologist, adhering to the principles of the sociological scientific method is important in order for the the immense amount of power that sociologists have to stay in control. Following the principles of the sociological scientific method does not allow the sociologists to abuse their power within a society.

The knowledge of each social class can be categorized based on the level of impact to the individual’s success or failure within their social structure.  Also, the knowledge can be categorized based on the impact to the social structure functions.  The impacts are life changing events based on individual or groups abilities and efforts.  The events create opportunities to provide themselves with materials goods, positive living condition, and favorable life experiences.  However, the categorization should not be race, ethnicity, age, gender, parent’s economic class, parent’s religion, or sexuality because they are labels not the abilities or efforts in obtaining success.  According to textbook “Sociology: Beyond common sense” by Durkin & Carrothers

Under the heading of Discipline-Rooted Authority were the following: Personal ruler ship (professional), collegial ruler ship (professional), Guild Authority, and Professional Authority. Under the heading of Enterprise Based Authority were the following: Trustee Authority (institutional), and Bureaucratic Authority (institutional). Under the heading of System Based Authority were the following: Bureaucratic Authority (governmental), Political Authority, and Statewide Academic Oligarchy. Lastly is the Wild Card of Authority which is Charisma (Clark, 1993)