Introduction

political legitimacy, Weber and communist mono-organisational systems

T. H. Rigby

pp. 1-26

in: T. H. Rigby, Ferenc Fehér (eds), Political legitimation in communist states, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 1982

Abstract

The expectation of political authorities that people will comply with their demands is typically based not only on such considerations as the latter's fear of punishment, hope of reward, habit or apathy, but also on the notion that they have the right to make such demands. This notion both inheres, explicitly or implicitly, in the claims of the authorities, and is reciprocated, to a greater or lesser extent, in the minds of those of whom compliance is demanded. This is what we mean by the "legitimacy" of political power and authority, a concept of ancient pedigree whose modern usage we owe largely to Max Weber. Both the term and the phenomenon have given rise to much argument, and some of the matters at issue will be touched on in what follows, but this account will suffice to launch our discussion.¹

Cited authors

Weber Max