Editing Conservatism (section)

=== Authority ===
Authority is a core tenet of conservatism.{{sfn|Giubilei|2019|pp=18–19}}<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Ashford |editor1-first=Nigel |editor2-last=Davies |editor2-first=Stephen |title=A Dictionary of Conservative and Libertarian Thought |date=2011 |isbn=978-0-415-67046-3 |pages=14–17 |publisher=Routledge}}</ref>{{sfn|Heywood|2017|p=72}} More specifically, conservatives tend to believe in [[traditional authority]]. According to sociologist [[Max Weber]], this form of authority is "resting on an established belief in the [[Sacredness|sanctity]] of immemorial traditions and the legitimacy of those exercising authority under them".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weber |first1=Max |title=[[Economy and Society]] |date=1922 |pages=215}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-last=Reinhard |author-first=Bendix |title=Max Weber: An Intellectual Portrait |publisher=University of California Press |year=1977 |page=295 |isbn=978-0-520-03194-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=65IUL-VaFGsC}}</ref> Philosopher [[Alexandre Kojève]] distinguishes between two different forms of traditional authority:

* The Authority of the Father—represented by actual fathers as well as conceptual fathers such as priests and monarchs.
* The Authority of the Master—represented by aristocrats and military commanders.{{sfn|Kojève|2020|pp=14–28}}

Sociologist [[Robert Nisbet]] acknowledges that the decline of traditional authority in the modern world is partly linked with the retreat of old institutions such as [[guild]], [[Fraternal order|order]], [[parish]], and [[family]]—institutions that formerly acted as intermediaries between the state and the individual.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nisbet |first=Robert A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RwjesgEACAAJ |title=The Sociological Tradition |date=1993 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-56000-667-1 |location=New York |orig-date=1966}}</ref>{{sfn|Kojève|2020|p=xvii}} Philosopher [[Hannah Arendt]] argues that the modern world suffers an existential crisis with a "dramatic breakdown of all traditional authorities," which are needed for the continuity of an established civilization.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Arendt |author-first=Hannah |title=Between Past and Future: Six Exercises in Political Thought |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RPw6VjmddrkC |year=1954 |publisher=Viking |pages=91–92}}</ref>{{sfn|Kojève|2020|pp=xviii–xix}}