Abstract
This article examines Max Weber’s appraisal of Bismarck as a ‘Caesarist’ figure. An analysis of Weber’s opinion of Bismarck serves, I submit, not only as a contribution to the history of a concept (Caesarism) whose importance in German political discourse between 1850-1917 has been admirably documented by Groh (1972) and Gollwitzer (1987). It also helps to shed light on an area of Weber’s thought of which we know comparatively little: his idea of i/legitimacy. Moreover, insofar as Weber’s advocacy of constitutional reform in Germany was framed against the backdrop of a negative estimation of Bismarck’s legacy, it seems pertinent to subject that evaluation to close textual scrutiny.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 149-164 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | European Journal of Sociology/Archives Europeennes de Sociologie |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - May 1988 |
Bibliographical note
Reprinted in P. Hamilton (ed.) Max Weber: Critical Assessments, Vol. I, Routledge: 1991.ISBN: 0415070937
Keywords
- Parliaments
- Voting rights
- Liberalism
- Bourgeois
- Political power
- Parliamentary system
- Socialism
- Political attitudes
- Legacies