ht to remove officials; or a parliament elected on a
more aristocratic or more democratic basis and equipped with the right of the de facto
power to vote a lack of confidence… (991)
Thus, there is a system of balance and checks and mutual dependency involved which prevent the distinction between individual and collective power. In the passage, the bureaucracy serves a master who is identified with the people or a parliament with decisive powers, yet at the same time, the bureaucracy is the maintainer of rules and regulations in society and official hierarchy. Equality between the two is observed, and no reference to collective or individual can be made since both the bureaucracy and the people (or parliament) pose as a collective and individual power.
The discussion of collective and individual power can be further applied to scenes in the propaganda film, “The Triumph of the Will.” The movie glorifies Hitler for being a charismatic leader, the embodiment of a political movement. Hitler is portrayed as being cheered on and adored by the masses, thus emphasizing the massive public support he is receiving, which according to Weber is the very foundation of his power. In fact, in the final scene of the movie, a speaker declares (in German) in front of the entire audience that the party is Hitler and Hitler is Germany. Thus his individual power is the ultimate embodiment of the collective power. This could also explain why people didn’t seem to mind the fact that Hitler had recently killed the leader of the SA army since his actions could have been seen as part of the ‘mission’ and therefore condoned. To this concerning laws, Weber also writes that “genuine charismatic domination knows no abstract laws and regulations and no formal adjudication” (1115).
On the other hand, all this can be likewise viewed according to Mosca. For example, Hitler and his generals can be considered as the ruling minority, and their followers, the German public and the soldiers, the ruled majority. With war plans and tactics laid out, the ruling minority has their goals organized. Along with charismatic domination, the rulers have swept away the majority with Nazi ideologies and goals that they devoutly serve the ruling minority.
Independent of physical size and relative strength between collective and individual power, it seems evident in Mosca and Weber (in charismatic domination) that collective power tends to be associated with the dominant force given the general definition of power as an ability to influence, possess, and preserve a value. This could perhaps be due to some human group tendency or phenomenon in having to give up a little for the ‘greater good.’ In bureaucracy however, guided by democracy, market economy, and ‘dehumanization,’ a pervasive equality prevented the distinction of collective and individual power. Nevertheless, all this depends on individual perception and implication, as the applications to “The Triumph of the Will” suggest, beginning from the basic concept of power.