In the past, systems of legal authority have often evolved in opposition to traditional authority. For districts, the district council cannot appoint a lawyer independently of the elected prosecutor without the approval of the court (RCW 36.32.200). We explore this topic in more detail in our publication Knowing the Land. In 2014, the Colorado Community Rights Network circulated a petition for a state constitutional amendment recognizing the right of Colorado communities to protect their health and safety by prohibiting harmful business activities. Commercial difficulties hampered the signature collection process, making it difficult to collect the required number of signatures. Eventually, the oil and gas industry pushed its own reactionary constitutional amendment to the state to make it harder for grassroots groups to change the state constitution. In February 2016, a constitutional amendment was introduced in the New Hampshire Legislature that allows municipalities to strengthen existing protections and introduce new rights-based ecosystem protections. In 2018, one-third of the New Hampshire House of Lawmakers voted to develop the state`s constitutional amendment, and in 2019 it was introduced in the legislature for the third time. In 2019, a state constitutional amendment was introduced in the Pennsylvania Commonwealth House of Representatives. The wording of the amendment states: “The right to local self-government includes, without limitation, the power to enact local laws: (1) to protect health, safety and well-being by establishing the rights of individuals, their communities and nature and by guaranteeing these rights through prohibitions and other means; and (2) the establishment, definition, modification or elimination of the rights, powers and obligations of undertakings and other undertakings carrying on or wishing to operate in the Community. BetterUp coaching can help leaders in your organization understand and develop their own types of authority.
Contact BetterUp for a demo. Professional therapists and counselors are examples of impressive authority. Rational legal authority (also known as rational authority, legal authority, rational rule, legal rule, or bureaucratic authority) is a form of leadership in which the authority of a leading organization or regime is largely linked to legal rationality, legal legitimacy, and bureaucracy. The majority of modern States of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries are rational and legal authorities, according to those who use this form of classification. Weber defined the legal system as one in which rules are promulgated and followed as legitimate because they are consistent with other laws, how they can be promulgated, and how they must be followed. Moreover, they are enforced by a government that monopolizes their implementation and the legitimate use of physical force. Rational legal authority is also called bureaucratic authority or legal authority. With this type of authority, an individual or leading group exercises power based on a legal function. Weber`s insight consisted in distinguishing different types of legitimate authority that characterize different types of societies, especially as they move from simple societies to more complex ones.
He called these three types of traditional authority, rational and legal authority, and charismatic authority. We now turn to them. As a leader, it is your responsibility to be aware of the control you have over others. And most importantly, how you can use that control to make your team a success. Rational and legal authority helps ensure an orderly transfer of power in times of crisis. When John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Vice President Lyndon Johnson was immediately sworn in as the next president. When Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 over his involvement in the Watergate scandal, Vice President Gerald Ford (who had himself become Vice President after Spiro Agnew resigned for financial corruption) became President.
Because the U.S. Constitution provided for the transfer of power when the presidency was vacant, and because U.S. leaders and members of the public accept the authority of the Constitution in these and so many other matters, the transfer of power in 1963 and 1974 proceeded smoothly and in an orderly manner. Charismatic authority may reside in a person who has entered a leadership position because of traditional or rational-legal authority. Over the centuries, several kings and queens of England and other European nations were also charismatic individuals (while some were far from charismatic). Some American presidents—Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Reagan, and, for all his faults, even Clinton—were also charismatic, and much of their popularity stemmed from various personal qualities that attracted the public and sometimes even the press. Ronald Reagan, for example, was often called “the Teflon president” because he was so beloved by much of the public that accusations of incompetence or misconduct did not stick to him (Lanoue, 1988). Of course, ideals are rarely replicated in the real world. Few governments or leaders can be accurately categorized. Some leaders, such as Mohandas Gandhi, can be considered charismatic and legal-rational authority figures. Similarly, a leader or government may begin by illustrating one type of authority and gradually evolve or move to another type.
This is not uncommon – charismatic leaders often enter rational and legal institutions of authority, and it is their charisma that facilitates their election. Similarly, a person in a position of rational and legal authority gains notoriety, which can allow them to be charismatic leaders after leaving formal positions of authority. Charismatic authority is different from traditional and juridical-rational authority. It does not develop from established traditions and regulations. FELDCE has worked with nearly 200 communities to advance legislation to align the purpose of the law and the place of power in society with those most affected by the legislation. This activism, and the law it promotes, protects the most basic rights that are currently ignored by the colonial legal system we inherited. To enforce these rights, municipalities prohibit harmful business activities ranging from coal mining and factory farms to hydraulic fracturing and sewage sludge dumping. This activism creates the conditions for the enforcement of specific rights against corporations that are currently constitutionally exempt from respect for human rights, ecosystems and the biosphere. Cities can either hire an “in-house” municipal lawyer or enter into a contract for legal services. While the city council creates the position and determines the remuneration of an internal city attorney, the executive branch (the mayor or city manager) chooses the person who will fill the role (sometimes subject to council approval).
If the position of City Attorney has been converted to a position by order or provision of the by-law and the position is filled by legal services contracts, the Mayor or City Manager will elect someone to fill that position, subject to possible confirmation by Council. You and your community have rights, and CELDF is here to help you fight for them. Click here to learn more about where we work and how you and your community can get involved – or email us at info@celdf.org. It is important to note that rational-legal authority can be questioned by their subordinates. However, this challenge is unlikely to lead to rapid structural changes. Judges are appointed from a group of people willing to make decisions disguised as “neutrality” and “precedent” that protect the status quo from environmental degradation and human exploitation. To be eligible for this position, judges must believe that the law is “neutral” and somehow related to justice, and therefore must have the privilege of conforming to the myriad of laws that criminalize poverty, blackness, disability, and the overlapping of these and other identities.
