Political Economy: Max Weber

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Political Economy Max Webers Theories

• By
• Dr. Kim Sedara
• Sept 2013

2
Max Webers Theory of Class

• Very influential from Karl Marx
• Marxs theory of Class is the property
  relationship based on boss and slave
  (bourgeois/small proletariat/big)
• Class is weak in the beginning and getting
  intensified over time.

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Max Webers Theory of Class (Cont)

• Weber defined class as market situation between
  employer and employee in the modern market
  economy, not with status.
• Weber class is intensified in the beginning but
  eased up overtime, especially in capitalism.
• Class is defined into three characteristics
• Status/prestige/stratification
• Class/income/wealth
• Power

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Max Webers Theory of Class (Cont)

• Each individual is impossible to have all the
  three.
• The distinct of the three is historical
• Power is dependent variable, is exercised on
  status and power/rational-legal, and income.
• Class Market
• Class interest class action
• Class is different from status

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Max Webers Theory of Class (Cont)

• In capitalism you dont need to get approval from
  president, but to invest if you want to be rich.
• Class is under the market chances in investment,
  educationgetting more incomes.
• Class interest class action depends on
  economic interest. You belong to a class because
  labor situation and your rational action to the
  market.

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Max Webers Theory of Class (Cont)

• Status group is a special social esteem, honor,
  a noblemans status depends on education, doctor,
  lawyer...
• Status as honor life style of individual, way of
  dress and behave, level of education, social
  discourse.
• Status as privileges material goods, special
  employment
• Economic conditions of status success in market,
• Caste if the status is widen can get
  stratifications

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Webers Ideal Types

• The concepts of ideal types
• Bureaucracies
• Must be understood
• Are not real
• Measuring sticks
• The characteristics of ideal types to work
• Division of labor
• Rules and representation
• Hierarchy of authority (Military)
• Technical qualifications (merit-base)
• Impersonality (not nepotism and conflict of
  interest)
• Must understand things in relations to history

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Webers Types of Authority

• There are three types of authority
• Traditional
• Charismatic
• Rational-legal authority
• Traditional patriarchy, rule over others without
  questioned, handed down from the past, given
  legitimacy by custom, weve have always come
  this way

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Webers Types of Authority (Cont)

• Charismatic authority worship, good and bad
  charisma, given legitimacy by leaders magical
  power-revelation, do it because you want appease
  me.
• Rational-legal authority elected leaders,
  status allows them to rule, electing anchor
  legitimacy, central to rational society, I do it
  because you accepted me as your leader.

10
Webers on Bureaucracy

• Bureaucracy is a rational-legal authority.
• Rule of law a system of authority/law and
  elected.
• Bureaucracy depends on division of powers,
  representation, and collegiality.
• How law and norm can be established and who obey
  it?
• Law can be established by acceptance from all
  sides with shared values, intentionally and
  consistency.

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Webers on Bureaucracy (Cont)

• Who obey? person in authority, subject to
  impersonal order, obey only the law but not
  person.
• Nature of rational-legal authority rule bound
  and changed slowly, sphere of competency,
  otherwise cant exercise the law, hierarchy,
  specialized training in the right responsibility,
  separation of responsibility, impersonal but
  bound to rule.

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Webers on Bureaucracy (Cont)

• Types of bureaucracy administrative staff,
  personally free, organized in hierarchy of
  office, qualifications-contract, meritocracy,
  salary based on qualification, contribute to
  career, avoid multiple jobs and conflict of
  interest.
• Efficiency of bureaucracy performance of
  capacity and credibility with predictability.

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Webers on Bureaucracy (Cont)

• Bureaucracy and Capitalism lies on technical
  knowledge, domination to knowledge and
  competence, formal bureaucratic rule, competency
  and merit-based recruitment, technical capacity
  building, impersonal.
• Collegiality stick to profession, consultation,
  listening to advices, aided by technical experts,
  mutual respect, free to express, clear separation
  of power but rule base, representation to
  mandatemostly by the chief.
• Thanks