Focus on the leadership of a political association What is a political association? What is a state?

It cannot defined by its ends since they pursue many different ends, so it must be defined by its means. A state is a human community that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of force within a given territory. Politics means striving to share power or striving to influence the distribution of power. A state can only exist when men who are dominated must obey the authority of others. Basic legitimations of domination: 1. Tradition 2. Charisma 3. Legality Organized domination requires 1) control of personal executive staff and 2) control of material implements of administration Executive staff bound to power-holder not just be legitimacy but also by material rewards and social honor When it comes to the material implements of administration, there is a distinction between 1)admin staff owning admin means and 2) admin staff is separated from admin means. Admin staff owns admin means: estates Example: feudal association Relies on relation of personal faith between vassal and lord Ruler owns admin means Staff is materially dependent on the ruler Do not rely on personal relationship This is what modern state bureaucracies are made of In modern state, there is a complete separation of admin staff from admin means From this arises the professional politician who serves the ruler Politics can be an avocation or a vocation Avocation: occasional, opportunistic, when the need arises

Vocation: staff dedicated wholly and exclusively to service of political leader Two types of politics as vocation 1) Live for politics in the service of a cause 2) Live off politics for economic reasons, i.e. personal income There is an economic constraint for professional politicians: they must be able to make a living Either through their own personal wealth, or through sufficient income from the state The professional politician must be economically dispensable: his income must not depend on the fact that he constantly and personally places his ability and thinking in the service of economic acquisition Rentier is dispensable. Worker and entrepreneur are not dispensable. Easier for the lawyer to be dispensable, so thats why there are more lawyers as politicians If you only have politicians who live for politics, youll have a plutocratic system because only people who are wealthy enough will be able to serve So a professional civil service cadre develops with expertise and a disdain for corruption There are certain domains that really require expertise: finance, war, legal procedure As more expertise was demanded, a tension emerged between the princes desire for autocratic control and the greater, necessary expertise of his advisors Finally, the prime minister emerged who could deal with the other officials and parliament and stand in for the prince Further division of labor between 1) admin officials and 2) political officials This political structure is like that of the modern private enterprise: the shareholders (the sovereign) are separated from the administration of the enterprise Major types of professional politicians: Religious Humanistically educated literati Court nobility Gentry (petty nobility) University-trained jurists

The civil servant must be dispassionate and must execute on the orders of superiors as if he believed them The honor of the political leader is that he assumes direct personal responsibility for political decisions Then Weber goes on a long diversion about the role of the press and the journalist Parties Some people care about politics; others dont