"Politics as a Vocation" was a lecture delivered by German economist and sociologist Max Weber to students at the University of Munich in January 1919 and published in October of the same year.

In this essay, Weber establishes a definition of the state that became foundational in Western political thought, attributing to it the monopoly on the legitimate use of violence.

"Politics as a Vocation" was the second lecture in a series on "intellectual work as a profession," presented on January 28, 1919, at the University of Munich.

The text was published in July 1919 and quickly became a classic in contemporary political science, addressing various critical issues relevant to the political life of his time, which still serve as a basis for analyzing contemporary politics. The concept of politics as a profession became a cornerstone of political science.