Weber and Legitimacy
Recently, the president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, has been extremely ill. Because of this, other government officials must take a greater role and have greater responsibility than they already have. One such government officials that has a had greatly expanded role is Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov. Paul Quinn-Judge of Time Magazine wrote an article entitled "Russia's New Icon" describing the Russian situation. In this article he articulates that "Former Spymaster Yevgeni Primakov reluctantly became Prime Minister [of Russia] two months ago. Now he is virtually running the country". Throughout the course of politics and government the issue of legitimacy of the power of rulers has arisen. The rise to power of Yevgeni Primakov brings about many questions about whether or not he possess the legitimacy to become an effective and exemplary leader. Max Weber(1864-1920), a German sociologist, believes in government, to be a legitimate ruler, one must have three characteristic. These characteristics are law, tradition, and charisma. "One can say that three pre-eminent qualities are decisive for the politician: passion, a feeling of responsibility, and a sense of proportion." If one possess the trait of law, it means that the per
Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov quickly stepped in-in every sense of the word. He does possess the legality and tradition to be the President of Russia but the third characteristic of charisma is a fuzzy issue. These people ask does he have the right to rule or does he have legitimate power? They also wonder does he have the law, tradition, and charisma to establish this legitimacy. First, is the question of the legality of his power. Traditionally, Russian leaders have been strong, intelligent, and qualified. If he does not have charisma now, but is on his way to acquiring this trait, he is not legitimate now. He emerged the leading prime minister candidate "last September when, after weeks of chaos" and was named the Prime Minister later in the year. However, if the Russian public become aware of his hard work and unassuming attitude, he may very well command popular devotion and spur on patriotic enthusiasm. This shows that when Yeltsin is too "under the weather" to perform his presidential duties that Primakov took over for him using all the capabilities that the Russian President has the power to use. According to the article written by Quinn-Judge, President Yeltsin "was too sick to go on a state visit to Austria. He studied at "Moscow's prestigious institute Oriental Studies, where he learned Arabic and graduated in 1953. Essentially, Primakov must satisfy all three of these requirements to establish his legitimacy. Yeltsin's advanceman sketched out Primakov's arrival and departure; Yeltsin's chief of protocol arranged the state visits; and Yeltsin's personal interpreter did the German-to-Russian translating". A secret man that works diligently can develop popular devotion and enthusiasm but to date Primakov is lacking in both of these areas.
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