ON THE MIXING OF MORALITY AND POLITICS: A TEST OF A WEBERIAN HYPOTHESIS.

Webers suggestion that the greater one's involvement with the politics of social reform the less his aversion to the use of morally dubious means is tested in a population of clergymen. The data are consistent with Weber's suggestion. Specifically, it is found that the more a clergyman is involved in attempts to alleviate social problems the less he objects to the use of a strategy for social change which employs deceit, threats, bluffs, and hostility; the less he disapproves of the use of power and conflict in general; and the less he rejects the use of power by the underprivileged in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]