Max and Alfred Weber II: From Führerdemokratie to Führernation A Comparative Synthesis of Their Political Sociology

Abstract:In their Führerdemokratie Max and Alfred Weber assigned the key decision-making influence to an oligarchical elite of political leaders, in the caesarist version of Max's conception also to a 'plebiscitary dictator'. In Max's view, the leaders should be appointed by a party apparatus, win the elections through their charisma and distribute power, posts and profits to their followers. In Alfred's version, the voters were directly involved in the selection of the leaders. According to Max, the individual was in an 'iron cage', bound by command and obedience and at the mercy of political authority and bureaucracy. Alfred rather considered the individual as a 'person destined for freedom' and sought ways to release him from the economic, social and political pressures of modern life. A quantitative keyword content analysis of two relevant texts confirms that Max's conception of political will was based on power and force, while Alfred set store by freedom, human rights and political self-determination.Both brothers criticized the weak role played by the Reichstag in German politics; they demanded a parliamentarization that should lead to a better selection of political leaders. However, after the Revolution Max advocated the direct plebiscitary election of a strong Reich President who should keep in check the power of the Reichstag. Alfred rejected this and advocated a chancellor democracy.Before the war Max propagated a German imperialist policy and a naval rearmament in order to maintain the export of German industrial products. Alfred refused this strategy and favoured the establishment of larger economic areas without customs barriers. During the First World War, both conceptions merged in the project of 'Mitteleuropa', a union of semi-independent states in Central and Eastern Europe under the political, military and economic control of the German Führernation (Alfred Weber) respectively Herrenvolk (Max Weber). In conclusion, the differences between the sociological concepts of the brothers are summed up as 'Sociology of Power' (Max Weber) versus 'Sociology of Freedom' (Alfred Weber).