ABSTRACT
The phenomena of legal order appear first in Max Weber’s categorization scheme under the heading “uniformities of action” as a type of uniformity parallel to “usage.” But Weber’s classification is itself confusing, precisely because of Weber’s attempt to integrate the concept of validity into the scheme. The two basic types of order are convention and law. Weber distinguishes them in terms of the causes that externally guarantee their legitimacy, meaning the causes that lead an individual to accept the legitimacy of the order. brief formulation of Rudolf von Ihering’s “reflection theory” is essential to understanding Weber’s innovations. The problem of legal novelty is a problem of how a particular claim to legal authority comes to be accepted. Since the distinguishing feature of legal authority is the claim to a monopoly of coercion, the problem of establishing legal authority, as Ihering puts it, is one of binding norm to force.
