Who first put forward the concept of political legitimacy?

Max Weber was the first person to put forward the concept of political legitimacy.

Max Weber (1864- 1920) first studied political legitimacy as a sociological phenomenon. He divided the basis of political legitimacy into three types: traditional authority model, personal charm authority model and legal authority model.

According to Weber, modern society is mainly characterized by legal authority, and its legitimacy base comes from people's respect for formal, reasonable and legal systems.

Neo-Marxist theorists have further developed Weber's thought, and their research conclusion is that capitalist society has formed a mechanism, and by expanding democracy and social reform, the principle of "consent" or social identity has been formed, thus inhibiting class confrontation.

Extended data

Max Weber s Achievements in Political Sociology;

Weber put forward three forms of political rule and authority: charismatic rule (family and religion), traditional authority (patriarch, patriarchy and feudalism) and bureaucratic rule (modern law and state and bureaucracy). Weber believes that the relationship between rulers and ruled in history contains such elements. ?

He believes that the instability of charismatic authority will inevitably lead to its forced transformation into a "conventional" form of authority, that is, traditional or bureaucratic rule. Similarly, he also noticed that in pure traditional domination, when the resistance to the dominator reaches a certain level, a "traditional revolution" will occur.

Therefore, Weber also hinted that society will gradually develop into a rational and legal authority structure and use a bureaucratic framework system. Although Weber's complicated works imply that the rationalization of this society is an inevitable trend, he himself carefully avoids the logic of evolution and teleology.

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