Max Weber's life-long endeavor to establish a new “social science (Sozialwissenschaft)” was geared to overcome the defects of historical science that had been based on the premises of historicism. In so doing, he developed an scientific tool of so-called “ideal type”, which is an heuristic device to understand(verstehen) the reality that is not to be comprehended by arbitrary and inaccurate concepts used in historical studies. One of the most well-known and frequently mentioned ideal types Weber suggested was his conception of “legitimacy”. Major part of his Economy and Society was devoted to discuss and develop a typology of governance (Herrschaft). He offered a three types of governance: legal, traditional, and charismatic. Those three “pure” types of legitimacy were to explain(erklaeren) the historical variations that had occurred in actual world. Out of the three types, the legal legitimacy was the one that Weber had most keen interest in. With this study he wanted to understand the characteristics of the modern state that is based on rational bureaucracy and legal system. Since Weber's death, the historical developments of the modern states in the twentieth century have shown the utmost importance of the legal legitimacy that he had delved in, especially when we observe the process of the legitimation of a regime whether it was established by the force against the will of people. In this sense, Weber's considerations of the problems raised from the legitimation process are closely relevant to the evaluation of the legitimate state in the contemporary era.
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