Authority is amongst the oldest and most widely used concepts in political life, coinciding with its own foundation: an Author is an originator of something, and all human articrafts as well as aggregates bear the mark of authority. Every definition couples authority with power, but power is treated as a unitary concept while authority is highly differentiated. However, the consensus tends toward Max Weber's three-fold treatment, distinguishing tradition-based authority, rational-legal authority and charismatic authority.