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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Write short note: Sources of legitimacy of power.

  • UPSC 2001
  • Politics and Society

Legitimacy is the quality that makes power acceptable as rightful, so that obedience rests on duty rather than fear. Max Weber held that every system of domination tries to cultivate a belief in its own legitimacy (Economy and Society, 1922). The key question is where that belief comes from.

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions.

What the full answer covers

  • 1. Weber's three grounds
  • 2. Sacred sanction and myth
  • 3. Ideology, structure and person
  • 4. Performance (effectiveness)
  • 5. Consent and participation
  • A synthesis and a critique
  • …and 1 more sections, with a conclusion

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