1. In the Weberian model of authority and power that you are using we could trace both elements of charisma and legal authority in Obama’s appoinment to the Presidency Then compare his particular combination of authority forms with the status of other poltical leaders like Gordon Brown , Putin,etc.

2. However in current Marxian models we could point too to

a) the role of advertising agencies who cajole us to ‘need to need’

‘b) the global power of transnational corporate leaders.

c) the control of the heads of government bureaucracies especially those in the Treasury who are dominated by the ideology of Economic Rationalism. Then compare them with other heads of departments who prefer a more Keynesian approach to the economy. nb there is a lot of mud slinging between these different authorities – each claiming to have the most ‘rational’ interpretation