Iván Szelényi's Yale lecture on Max Weber's theory of charismatic authority, part of Foundations of Modern Social Theory (SOCY 151). He contrasts charisma with traditional and legal-rational authority, explaining why Weber called it revolutionary: charismatic leaders claim a special connection to divine power or exceptional personal gifts, and their followers believe it, which lets them push for change that other forms of authority cannot generate. The lecture works through the source of charisma, the role of followers in sustaining it, and why charisma is inherently unstable, decaying when a leader fails to deliver promised change. It closes on the problem of routinization, the paradox of transforming a personal, irrational form of authority into a lasting institution, and surveys the methods of succession Weber identified: search, revelation, designation, and heredity. Recorded at Yale in Fall 2009, with timestamped chapters covering each stage of the argument.