ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that the institutionalization of class authority and leadership is a countervailing force against the stultifying force of bureaucracy, on the one hand, and the unstable force of charisma, on the other. Authority is the institutionalization, or legitimation, of power. When authority capitulates altogether to the social forces of egalitarianism and anti-institutional anarchy, ambitious men, often of few scruples, rapidly adapt themselves to a world of vicious power struggles while the timid retreat behind the walls of plutocracy and irresponsible privilege. The author's model of leadership and authority depends on a clear understanding of the difference between an elite and an upperclass. Democratic social and political theory is concerned with social justice, a vital aspect of which is the need for allowing the most deserving individuals, regardless of class, race, or ethnic origin, to rise into elite positions of leadership.
