Abstract

Max Weber’s political sociology provides a powerful framework for interpreting the defeat of Hillary Clinton as a crisis of legitimacy and the election of Donald Trump as an example of charismatic leadership. Even so, the effectiveness of Trump’s demagogy places in grave doubt Weber’s normative analysis of political leadership, which implicitly depends on his understanding of charisma. This application and critique hinges on the links between intuitional charisma and charismatic legitimacy, on the one hand, and on the links between political vocation and charisma, on the other.