"Define and contrast traditional, charismatic, and legal authority using examples from your own society or experience. How may these different authorities complement each other or conflict for support stability or promote change in society."
             Every society recognizes some form of legitimate authority that governs over the people. This authority may be traditional, charismatic, or legal.
             Traditional authority is often found in monarchal and tribal governments. Rulers usually attain this position through heredity or succession of power.
             This form is different from the others in that it grants power to an individual without the consent of the people to be governed. Another major difference is the rule, receiving his power from divine right, cannot be called to account for his actions my mere commoners. This form may still be seen on our Indian reservations throughout the United States, although the interactions with European cultures and governments has resulted in the tribal council governing rather than the chief.
             Charismatic authority figures are often seen as religious or social movement leaders. Unlike traditional and legal authority, this form is legitimized and dependent upon the followers shared believe in their leader. Charismatic authority figures can be found in all areas of life and often are the vehicles of change. Some of the more popular examples would be Dr. Martin Luther King, Gandhi, and the Pope.
             The last and most pervasive form of authority is the legal authority. This form works on the premise of peoples shared belief in the supremacy of law, over that of the individual. In a society that adheres to this form of authority, the citizens don't follow a single ruler. Instead, they adhere to a set of impersonal principals that are recognized to be beneficial to the whole. Such societies normally have a President or Prime Minister that are bound to follow the same established rules as the ordinary citizen.
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