Miles Kim

While domination has been prevalent in various times in historical periods, there

only exist primary definitions that ultimately make domination truly what it is.

Domination has been in large part necessary for establishing order but its widespread use

has been exemplified with contrasting types. In general, authoritative rule has several

variations due to differences in unique decision making from rulers. As a result, Weber

purpose for his writing on bureaucracy and domination has been imperative for our

understanding for both similarities and differences between types of domination. While

there are certainly variants in power relations, my fathers patrimonial authority over me

is both legitimated and restricted on the basis of the defining characteristics of

domination as laid out by Weber.

Weber has categorized the three pure types of authority as his claim of

legitimate domination. The three have differentiated based on their grounds. For Weber,

rational grounds is based on the enacted legality of the rules and right of those elevated to

authority under rules to issue commands. Traditional grounds is generally an

established belief in the sanctity of immemorial traditions under exercising authority and

finally Charismatic grounds rest on devotion to exception sanctity, heroism, or

exemplary character of an individual person, and ..normative patterns (Weber, 215).

A sub-type of traditional authority, patrimonial authority, is based on the

necessary form of social hierarchy as based on the appropriation of filial piety. The

specifying qualifications that are necessary for such a rule is self-explanatory in the both

the social and economic connections that are inevitably part of power relations of a

father-son relationship. My fathers patrimonial maintenance in a modern sense of

Webers defining benefices as the retainer is generally laid out as living from the
lords (fathers) table, allowances (economic) from the lords magazines or treasury and

by rights of land use in return for services (Weber, 235). The criterion of this eligibility

makes me hereditarily a provisional adherence to his power domination. This natural

order of hegemonic relations is necessary for my continued sustenance and survival in the

most basic form.

The restrictions of such a rule are most evident in the fact that it is simply based

on a social position from a genealogical standpoint. From this view, we can see that the

challenge of such authority can be made in terms of such a status. On the basis of social

esteem and status convention, my fathers social position is protected by prescription

about rank order..command by .. a strong and stable social differentiation predominantly

comes from socially and economically privileged strata (Weber, 960). However, it is my

every right to leave given that I do not rely on his economic support. On the basis that his

positional power is simply that it is on a hereditary social ranking, as long as I am willing

to live under the conditions without his benefices I can leave independently from his

patrimonial rule. Lastly, I can leave given educational specialization. As delineated by

Weber as the civilized and specialized man, it is in general the expanding...private

relations of authority and by the ever-increasing importance of experts and specialized

knowledge. This struggle affects the most intimate aspects of personal culture (Weber,

1002).

For the first time, we see in this paper a description of power variants in types and

the modern personal application of Webers sociological analysis on authoritative rule.

While Weber does describe primarily patrimonial rule in a feudal sense, the power

relational narrative between my father and me can still draw parallels to my life today.