Obama Authority Qualities

Improved Essays
Qualities of Leadership/Authority : Barack Obama

According to Max Weber, there are three different types of authority. These different types of authority can be found in social organizations. One type of authority is traditional authority . Traditional authority is based in custom , birthright, or divine right. The next type of authority is legal-rational authority. Legal-rational authority is based on laws , rules and procedures. Lastly, there is charismatic authority. Charismatic authority is based on the perception of remarkable personal qualities in a leader. Neither rules nor traditions are necessary for the establishment of a charismatic leader. When looking at leaders in society, there can be countless examples. Managers, principals of schools, owners of stores are all examples of authority or leadership in society. One major leader in society is the President of the United States. The President Obama possesses the qualities of a legal-rational authority.
…show more content…
The United States of America was built to be a democracy. A form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them or by their elected officials. Unlike traditional authority and charismatic authority , legal-rational authority gets it power from the people. Abiding by the laws outlined in the

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    America is not a true democracy due to the electoral college system. The electoral college is the process that serves as a compromise between the vote of the people, and the vote of congress when electing a president. A true democracy is defined as “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.” The electoral directly contradicts this definition, meaning that the American presidential system is less of a democracy, and more of a republic. The difference is that true democracy implies that power is held with the people, but with a republic, power is held in representatives, like the electoral college.…

    • 1033 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1825-1850 DBQ Essay

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The United States was founded on key aspects to a create a strong, centralized democratic goverment: freedom and equality. In fact, one of the nations famous quotes, "Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness" complements the nations democracy as a whole. While America was just a newly developed country, it was evident to citizens that changes were necessary. Between the years of 1825-1850, a reformational period embodied America. Whether or not these reforms sought to expand democratic ideals was a question that required an answer.…

    • 847 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    1. B.C.: This mean before Christ and relates to democracy because it was formed in 508 B.C. 2. B.C.E. :…

    • 984 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Democracy is the central feature of government in the United States of America. It was an idea set forth by our Founding Fathers as the building block upon which our nation would grow. Democracy is a constant in American government but it was radically changed with the election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency in 1828. Jackson wanted to bring the common people back into the government, taking it away from the elitists that had begun to dominate American politics. What was important to his philosophy was that people participate and get involved in politics regardless of their status because that was the true ideal of American democracy.…

    • 1328 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Democracy, a noun that describes the governmental dream, a government by the people. Ending the regular tradition of having monarchy as the intended government throughout ancient times. The official spark of democracy had happened during the time of ancient Greeks. Which happened to be the root and basis of this democratic way of government. Democracy trails back to 500 BCE in the time of the ancient Athens.…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Role of the Citizen in a Constitutional Democracy Despite major conflicts and social changes, the American Constitution has offered a framework of governance for over two hundred years. The Framers of the American constitution sought to create a government free of tyrannical rule—where power derives from the consent of the governed. The US constitution outlines a form of national government that aims to serve the American people by protecting their rights and liberties. The US constitution is succinct and difficult to amend; congress has only passed twenty-seven amendments since the ratification of the constitution. In this essay, I will analyze the arguments Robert Dahl’s presents in his book “How Democratic is the American Constitution”…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Democracy is a government form created and run by the peoples in which occupy the area being governed. A government run by the people includes the idea that decisions are made based on the opinion of the majority. Democracy gives the people choice. The citizens have the opportunity to make choices on how their lives are run and how much involvement the government has in their their everyday life. Due to the fact that Andrew Jackson was elected through the utilization of democracy, he used his presidency to further democratize America through bettering the lives of the majority.…

    • 1563 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Abolish Electoral College

    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Abolish the Electoral College? Democracy, a noun defined as “a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives”. The Electoral College was established in 1787 in order to choose a President. Unfortunately though, the college was not able to make wise choices on presidential candidates.…

    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Since the dawn of time, every civilization on earth has had some sort of leader role in their society. Native Americans had elders and leaders, kingdoms had kings and queens, and finally modern society has presidents and the government. Every government is different in each nation on the earth. Some of the governments act as a person who the citizens discuss with about politics.…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Is the Constitution a democratic document or undemocratic? According the book “We the People”, democracy is defined as; a system of rule that permits citizens to play a significant part in the governmental process, usually through the election of key public officials. The farmers of the constitution wanted individual liberty to be first before any other political values, and they were highly concerned with their time and place. The farmers wanted the people of the Unites States to hold most of the power, not the government.…

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Anti-Federalists

    • 1425 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The majority of the United States’ population would describe their nation as a true democracy, but yet the same people from the same population would also argue that their government holds too much power. It is in the nature of man to want to be in complete control of his land and his way of life, but yet he doesn’t want to have to defend it on a daily basis. This universal enigma is why we have established systems of government. The key to this dilemma is to try to achieve a balance of power between the population and government that rules over them. How do you prevent a system of government from eroding the essential liberties that free men have the right to inherit?…

    • 1425 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Illegitimacy of The Electoral College According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of democracy is “government by the people; especially: rule of the majority.” Democracy has always been a substantial element of The United States policy. The U.S. support for democracy has aided in the creation of a dependable and a flourishing world economy (“Democracy”). The United States is a democratic nation, yet we have a system known as the Electoral College which hinders democracy.…

    • 1511 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The United States is a supper power with the highest level of democracy where human rights are highly respected and protected by the constitution of the land. To reach this point has taken many years of sacrifice and suffering among the early activists. In order to protect these rights and others among the citizens; there is separation of power in the three arms of the government (judiciary, legislature and the executive arm).The rule of law is adhered to with the constitution being the supreme law of the land (Bush,2015). Even, that being the case in the U.S.A, issues of the federal court interfering with the ability of the government to enforce national security has been witnessed in recent months.…

    • 315 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Vega 1 Breanna Vega Professor Olmos English 101 23 April 2016 Citizens Rule Democracy is known to be a strong form of government, because it gives full power to the people of the nation. Many argue about how a democracy works, but do not understand it includes difficult tasks for it to be successful. In Cornel West’s reading, “The Deep Democratic Tradition in America,” the idea of a strong democracy is by the people, but the promise of a democracy has failed. In order to keep the promise of strong democracy individual practices such as voting rights, the principle of protection, and the representation of each individual must be practiced under no circumstances.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    I. Introduction The United States holds a belief that it is the paragon democratic country and it is an example that other democratic nations should follow. A democracy is a system of government in which people choose leaders by voting. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, it is “a government of the people, by the people, for the people” (The Gettysburg Address). A pure direct democracy, in theory, can occur through direct democracy where the people vote on nearly every issue that arises, but no such democracy exists in the world.…

    • 1809 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays