Foundations of Political Power and Social Organization Theories

Foundations of Political Power and Legitimacy

Politics is an activity carried out by its members, aimed at determining how a community must organize its coexistence. Political power is the ability of a person or persons to impose their decisions on a community occupying a given territory.

Max Weber's Types of Legitimation

Max Weber distinguishes the following types of legitimation of power:

• Charismatic: Based on the character and personal qualities of the leader or chief.
• Traditional: The guarantee of power lies in customs and tradition.
• Legal-Rational: Power is justified by specified legal proceedings and instituted rules.

Naturalistic Theories on Society: The Polis

The social-political organization characteristic of Classical Greece was the polis, generally comprising a core urban population (of fifty to one hundred thousand inhabitants) and several neighboring villages. Free Greeks, next to their governments and the ability to actively participate in social and political issues, felt deeply connected to their city and possessed a positive conception of institutions.

Naturalistic theories tended to assert that society was earlier and higher than the individual human being. Aristotle defended the idea that the human being is social by nature.

Contractarian Theories and the Social Contract

Contractarian theories emerged from the new bourgeois thinking that extended throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The bourgeois organized life and numerous business dealings through contracts, making it logical to use this idea to explain political relations as well.

In social contract theories, a number of common characteristics are present:

1. The Hypothesis of a State of Nature: This is an early situation in which individuals lived in families, outside of any type of organized society.
2. Inherent Individual Rights: Individual rights predate the state, and individuals enjoy inherent liberty.
3. The Social Contract: A contract involving the cession of rights that creates the state.
4. The Aim: The goal is to benefit individuals and improve upon the previous situation.
5. Varying Political Systems: The resulting political system varies depending on how the contract has been designed (e.g., between whom, for whom, and if it is revocable or not). Examples include absolute monarchy (Hobbes), liberalism (Locke), and democracy (Rousseau).