Define and outline the development of rational-legal authority. ...

[maegan_martin]

Define and outline the development of rational-legal authority. Include sociologist Max Weber's viewpoint.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Gender socialization is the aspect of socialization that contains specific messages and practices concerning the nature of being female or male in a specific group or society.
 
  a. True
 b. False
  Indicate whether the statement is true or false

[jessofishing]

Answer to Question 1

According to sociologist Max Weber, rational-legal authority is power legitimized by law or written rules and regulations. Rational-legal authorityalso known as bureaucratic authorityis based on an organizational structure that includes a clearly defined division of labor, hierarchy of authority, formal rules, and impersonality. Power is legitimized by procedures if leaders obtain their positions in a procedurally correct manner (such as by election or appointment), they have the right to act. Rational-legal authority is held by elected or appointed government officials and by officers in a formal organization.

However, authority is invested in the office, not in the person who holds the office. For example, although the U.S. Constitution grants rational-legal authority to the office of the presidency, a president who fails to uphold the public trust may be removed from office. In contemporary society, the media may play an important role in bringing to light allegations about presidents or other elected officials. Examples include the media blitzes surrounding the Watergate investigations of the 1970s that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon, the late 1990s political firestorm over campaign fund-raising and the sex scandal involving President Bill Clinton. In a rational-legal system, the governmental bureaucracy is the apparatus responsible for creating and enforcing rules in the public interest. Weber believed that rational-legal authority was the only means to attain efficient, flexible, and competent regulation under a rule of law.

Answer to Question 2

True