Political power is thus an enormously complex matter. Like all other issues facing the social social scientist it must be approached with an eye to making some sense out of the potentially infinite data. For Weber the point of departure for such analysis is an understanding of the essential nature of power and domination in human social action, some mode of classifying the basis of legitimacy of political power, an understanding of the relationship of political power to the larger social tendencies towards rationalization, and an appreciation of the various forms of state or political structures that humans are capable of establishing.