The third type of rule, which Jan Matthias represented, is what Weber was the first to call “charismatic.” It is one that our own age of political turmoil sees frequently, and that Weber himself sought to understand through his discovery of earlier exemplars of charismatic leadership. The essential nature of charismatic rule is that it is short and turbulent. The charismatic leader claims special powers, commonly revealed through magic, through visions, dreams, and revelations, through heroic deeds, and through his extraordinary powers of persuasion. He—with rare exceptions, such as Joan of
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