Editing Rational-legal authority (section)

==Emergence of the modern state==
Weber wrote that the modern state based on rational-legal authority emerged from the patrimonial and feudal struggle for power (see [[traditional authority]]) uniquely in the [[Western culture|Occidental civilization]]. The prerequisites for the modern Western state are:
* Monopolization by central authority of the means of administration and control based on a centralized and stable system of taxation and use of physical force
* Monopolization of legislative
* Organisation of an officialdom, dependent upon the central authority

Weber argued that some of those attributes have existed in various time or places, but together they existed only in Occidental civilization. The conditions that favoured this were
* Emergence of rational-legal rationality (various [[status class|status groups]] in the [[Western world|Occident]] promoted that emergence)
* Emergence of modern officialdom (bureaucracy), which required
** Development of the money economy, where officials are compensated in money instead of kind (usually land grants)
** Quantitative and qualitative expansion of administrative tasks
** Centralization and increased efficiency of administration.

Weber's belief that rational-legal authority did not exist in [[History of China|Imperial China]] has been heavily criticized, and does not have many supporters in the early 21st century.