(This is an archived extract from the book Patterns of Power: Edition 2)
Monarchies originally formed the apex of feudal systems, exerting what Weber described as “traditional authority”.[1] Some claimed a religious mandate, or even claimed that they themselves were divine, to increase their legitimacy and strengthen their hold on the people; in these situations the religious authorities and the monarchies supported each other in an exercise of joint power. Monarchies which have been installed more recently, by successful dictators attempting to set up dynasties, can only justify their rule by being seen to govern well.
© PatternsofPower.org, 2014
[1] Monarchy is one of Max Weber’s previously quoted “three inner justifications, hence basic legitimations of domination” in paras. 7-10 of his lecture Politics as a Vocation, which was available in May 2014 at http://anthropos-lab.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Weber-Politics-as-a-Vocation.pdf:
“the authority of the 'eternal yesterday,' i.e. of the mores sanctified through the unimaginably ancient recognition and habitual orientation to conform. This is 'traditional' domination exercised by the patriarch and the patrimonial prince of yore.”