Instituted and subversive power: Max weber and the double face of charismatic domination

Abstract

The article demonstrates that charismatic domination has a two-dimensional nature and can be both a source of legitimacy and a force of subversion of the political order. After reviewing the theological sources used by Max Weber, it is shown that, from a sociological point of view, the author distinguishes between pure charism and institutionalized charism. This allows Weber to inquire into what conditions relations of power with unstable personal and emotional bases are capable of engendering enduring structures of domination. At the heart of his model, therefore, is contained a theory of the transformation and institutionalization of the charism. With these elements, we reconstruct the theory of revolution and the theory of plebiscitary democracy of the Weberian model of charismatic domination. The first aspect emphasizes the dimension of legitimacy (instituted power), while the second considers the aspect of the transformation of the political order (subversive power).