The majority of the modern states of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries are rational-legal authorities, according to those who use this form of classification.
Scholars such as Max Weber and Charles Perrow characterized the rational-legal bureaucracy as the most efficient form of administration.
The conditions that favoured this were Weber's belief that rational-legal authority did not exist in Imperial China has been heavily criticized, and does not have many supporters in the early 21st century.
The vast majority of the modern states from the 20th century onward fall under the rational-legal authority category.
The majority of modern bureaucratic officials and political leaders represent this type of authority.