)6 THE SOCIAL THEORY OF GEORG SIMMEL 
nate has the choice between submission and punishment. 
However little consolation the existence of this alternative 
may bring to the individual in question, it shows none the 
less that the superior-inferior relationship cannot be estab- 
lished without some active participation on the part of the 
subordinate. This submission is not purely passive, but 
has an active aspect as well, and the resulting relationship 
is a form of social interaction. 
What is called “authority” requires also a much more 
active participation on the part of those who submit to it 
than is generally supposed. To call a human being an au- 
thority means to ascribe to his judgments and decisions a 
certainty and an infallibility which are otherwise ascribed 
only to universal postulates and logical deductions. This 
authority can become established in two different ways. 
In the first instance, it results from the fact that a superior 
individual inspires in his group such a faith and confidence 
in his opinions and decisions that they obtain for that 
group the character of objective validity. In becoming an 
authority, his quantitative significance turns into a new 
quality with objective status. In the second instance, the 
authority becomes established by a different process. It 
occurs when a superindividual organization like the state, 
the church, or the school transfers to the individual a power 
of decision and a dignity which he could not inspire or ob- 
tain through his own personality. In the first instance the 
authority develops out of the individuality, in the second 
instance it descends into the individual from the outside. 
But in neither case can the transition occur without the 
active belief of those who submit to the authority. The 
transformation of the value of the individual into a super- 
personal value is brought about by the believers in the 
authority. Authority is a sociological product requiring the 
spontaneous and active participation of the subordinates.