11.1.3: Rational–Legal Authority

 11.1.3: Rational–Legal Authority 

The second type of authority, rational–legal authority, is based not on custom but on written rules. Rational means reasonable, and legal means part of law. 

Thus, rational–legal refers to matters that have been agreed to by reasonable people and written into law (or regulations of some sort). The matters that are agreed to may be as broad as a constitution that specifies the rights of all members of a society or as narrow as a contract between two individuals. 

Because bureaucracies are based on written rules, rational–legal authority is also called bureaucratic authority. 

Rational–legal authority comes from the position that someone holds, not from the person who holds that position. In the United States, for example, the president’s authority comes from the legal power assigned to that office, as specified in a written constitution, not from custom or the individual’s personal characteristics. 

In rational–legal authority, everyone—no matter how high the office—is subject to the organization’s written rules. In governments based on traditional authority, the ruler’s word may be law; but in those based on rational–legal authority, the ruler’s word is subject to the law.