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The sociologist and philosopher Max Weber distinguishes three types of authority—charismatic, traditional, and rational—each of which corresponds to a brand of leadership that is operative in contemporary society. First, charismatic authority points to an individual who possesses certain traits that make a leader extraordinary. This type of leader is not only capable of but possesses the superior power of charisma to rally diverse and conflict-prone people behind him. His power comes from the massive trust and almost unbreakable faith people put in him. Second, traditional authority indicates the presence of a dominant personality. This leader is someone who depends on established tradition or order. While this leader is also a dominant personality, the prevailing order in society gives him the mandate to rule. This type of leadership, however, is reflective of everyday routine and conduct. First, charismatic leadership can be problematic because it is somehow based on some form of a messianic promise of overhauling an unjust system. It is not impossible, however, to find such type of a leader, as history would show. Consider Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., or Nelson Mandela. A charismatic leader holds the mission to unite his people amid adversity and differences to attain an almost insurmountable goal. Second, traditional authority poses its difficulty insofar as it is based on a dominant power. For Weber, all authority exhibits some form of domination. A traditional leader may rely on or even exploit prevailing practices. Traditional authority may suffer from a lack of moral regularity in the creation of legal standards. Modern societies rely on legal-rational authority in terms of finding a common ground in which consensus may be achieved. But consensus on the basis of agreements often lacks flexibility, which may embody the dominance of a bureaucratic mentality of which government service is sometimes accused. Weber’s analysis of modern societies also points to the idea that capitalist states do give rise to bureaucratic authority. Instrumental reason, grounded in the “means to an end” discourse, can be found in the exercise of authority based on laws, rules and procedures that govern citizens. For Weber, legal-rational authority has been successful in Protestant countries because Protestantism fills the bill in terms of responsible capitalism. The basic point is that Protestant ethics emphasizes hard work and individual responsibility, which are both necessary in order to maintain and pursue the ends of capitalism.