Abstract
This essay explores the theme of the legitimacy of power in Weber from the standpoints of social science, historical investigation and political reflection. It investigates how Weber develops this theme in Kategorienaufsatz (1913), Soziologische Grundbegriffe (1920), Die Stadt (1911-14) and Politische Schriften (1917-19). Power, as a relationship of command/obedience, is founded on the representations of legitimacy of the individuals involved and on the Einverstandnis (consent) which is the condition of possibility of this relationship. It is back to the medieval city that Weber traces the genesis and interweaving of various forms of legitimation, which continue to exist as possibilities even within the modern State. The memory of medieval events re-emerges when Weber, after Germany’s defeat in the First World War and the threat of revolution that followed, tries to lay a foundation for the legitimacy of “leader democracy” by reintroducing the command/obedience relationship between leaders and masses.
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