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Legitimate Power in Society

No society can function as a society unless the decisive social power is legitimate.

Legitimate power stems from the same basic belief of society regarding man’s nature and fulfillment on which the individual’s social status and function rest. Indeed legitimate power can be defined as rulership that finds its justification in the basic ethos of society. In every society there are many powers that have nothing to do with such a principle, and institutions that in no way are either designed or devoted to its fulfillment. In other words, there are always a great many “unfree” institutions in a free society, a great many inequalities in an equal society, and a great many sinners among the saints. But as long as the decisive social power that we call rulership is based upon the claim of freedom, equality, or saintliness, and is exercised through institutions that are designed toward the fulfillment of these ideal purposes, society can function as a free, equal, or saintly society. For its institutional structure is one of legitimate power.

ACTION POINT: Think about the problem of creating legitimate power in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. What “unfree” institutions are likely to remain? What inequalities are likely to persist once legitimate power is established?

The Future of Industrial Man

* Source: The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker

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