ABSTRACT
Political offices constitute an abstract structure of positions that are vested with political power and authority and provide incumbents access to other sources of power. Succession to political status is better accounted for by the allocation of authority by a political community to a status leader. Succession, appointment, and election to office may be coterminous in the politics of some polities, such as most contemporary state formations. Legitimacy is the result of the dialectical process, legitimation, by which leaders try to resolve contradictions between more diffuse sources of authority at the local level and the more centralized and independent authority to which leaders aspire. Leaders attempt to mobilize their communities' economy to their advantage, increase social distance between themselves and their followers, validate their right to authority, consolidate their power and authority. Leaders socialize their political communities to the rewards and punishments they can expect for granting or withholding support from the leaders.
