section_path: Beliefs and principles/Authority
section_name: Authority
paragraph_text: Authority
  
  Authority is a core tenet of conservatism. More specifically, conservatives tend to believe in traditional authority. According to Max Weber, this form of authority is "resting on an established belief in the sanctity of immemorial traditions and the legitimacy of those exercising authority under them". Alexandre Kojève distinguishes between two different forms of traditional authority:
  
  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, order, parish, and family —institutions that formerly acted as intermediaries between the state and the individual. 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 civilisation.