ABSTRACT
Social reality exhibits complex combinations of types and traits, so ideal types are not presented as empirical realities that exist in the world. Max Weber's famous definition of sociology called for both an interpretive understanding and a causal explanation of social action. From this definition, he derived a typology of social action that in turn led to a typology of authority. Thus, the beliefs that comprised the Protestant Ethic were religious in origin, but had profound effects on the economic behavior of true believers. Weber then turns to Calvinism and its core doctrine of predestination. Michels began by noting that 'democracy is inconceivable without organization'. The fact that Weber's most distinctive ideas about social movements remain cogent in social movement theory and research a century after their initial formulation testifies to the value of the Weberian legacy for the study of social movements.
