Rezeptionsprobleme der Max Weber'schen Charismathese in der amerikanischen Political-Leadership-Forschung - eine programmierte Verwirrung?

In: Osterreichische Zeitschrift fur Politikwissenschaft, Heft 3, S. 257-272

Abstract

Max Weber's concept of charismatic authority remains an important point of reference for political leadership studies. However, the integration of the concept into behaviorist & other positivistic approaches in the United States often led to a distortion of the essential meaning. The real quintessence of charisma in Weber's understanding is the fact that this is a non-calculable, non-utilitarian & non-rational phenomenon, which cannot be integrated into a cost-benefit relation. Nevertheless, Weber himself left the psychological aspects of a charismatic relation aside, as he could not benefit from Freud's findings. Based on Freud's modified psychoanalysis important further developments in social-and political psychology were achieved. These largely contributed to the fostering of political leadership perspectives. Adapted from the source document.