Power and Authority PDF

POWER From French: pouvoir = to be able Individual: ability to do what you want Political: ability to get others to do what you want “The ability to achieve an objective by influencing the behaviour of others, particularly to get them to do what they would not have otherwise done.” Who...

POWER From French: pouvoir = to be able Individual: ability to do what you want Political: ability to get others to do what you want “The ability to achieve an objective by influencing the behaviour of others, particularly to get them to do what they would not have otherwise done.” Who has power? How is it obtained, transferred? How is its exercise and distribution justified? POWER - FORMS Coercion Influence Authority/ Legitimacy  COERCION “the deliberate subjection of one will to another through fear of harm or threats of harm” Compliance is not voluntary or free Violence – physical harm Monetary penalties Fines Strikes Modern governments have a near- monopoly on violence.  INFLUENCE Ability to persuade others to do what you want. Compliance is voluntary. Persuasion may appeal to Intellect Emotions Self-interest Group-interest  INFLUENCE Tools Arguments – using ingenuity, knowledge, research, facts… Or misleading information – disinformation, manipulation Appeal to interests, emotions May be affected by indirect power – acceptance of dominant beliefs Leadership Inducements (financial incentives, rewards, bribes) Promise of career/life advancement Policy promises Negotiation, bargaining Advertising Algorithms Ability to control the political agenda  AUTHORITY Compliance is not based on persuasion or fear, but respect. Recognition of the right of the authority to hold & exercise power Claimants of authority ‘have been authorized … to govern’ By ‘God, tradition, legal rules, election…’ Keir Starmer UK PM & Authority explains most political compliance. Labour Party leader Persuasion is less reliable. Coercion is more expensive.  LEGITIMACY AND AUTHORITY A social relationship Authority implies the right to command. Focused on the one who commands Legitimacy focuses on the response Focused on the respect for the authority Power without legitimacy = force or coercion Power with legitimacy = authority AUTHORITY - TYPES Natural Spontaneous – based on personal characteristics/qualities “an authority” Public Created by human agreement “in authority” AUTHORITY – WEBER’S TYPES Traditional Legal Charismatic Ideal types May overlap Help to understand the character or basis for authority TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY Based on inherited position or “customs that establish the right of certain persons to rule” or govern Legitimacy based on things like belief in tradition, religion… Divine right Feudal systems Saudi Arabia  LEGAL (-rational) AUTHORITY Rule-based – “the right to rule based on legal rules and procedures” Rules bind “all participants in the system” Individuals hold power only as instruments of the law e.g. a PM or president has authority only while the PM/president Loyalty is not to the people in office but to the principles of law/ the constitution Authority is limited by legal rules & procedures Tradition still plays a role Associated with democracy LEGAL (-rational) AUTHORITY May face a “legitimacy crisis” if ▪ Governments are ▪ Ineffective in addressing significant problems ▪ Perceived as corrupt ▪ Groups feel persistently unrepresented or mistreated TRADITIONAL  LEGAL AUTHORITY “Modernization” Popular revolutions 1688 Glorious Revolution 1776 American Revolution 1789 French Revolution 1911 Chinese Revolution 1917 Russian Revolution TRADITIONAL  LEGAL AUTHORITY Legal authority is now most widely recognized as legitimate Many countries call themselves Democratic Republics Governments of the people DPRK  CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY 1. Based on extraordinary personal or supernatural qualities Charisma – means “grace” or “spiritual favour” 2. Legitimacy derives from followers’ belief in transcendent basis for authority e.g. God Joan of Arc Louis Riel e.g. History Adolf Hitler 3. Charismatic leaders often emerge during crisis or severe unrest. CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY – crisis example – The Weimar Crisis WWI – Treaty of Versailles Imposed impossible reparations payments on Germany Decline of traditional authority – Kaiser Legal authority/democracy was not well established Inflation Inflation: Weimar Republic (interwar Germany) 1914 July 4.2 marks = $1 US 1919 January 8.9 1919 July 14 1921 January 64.9 1921 July 76.7 1922 January 191.8 1922 July 493.2 1923 January 17,972 1923 July 353,412 1923 August 4,620,455 1923 September 98,860,000 1923 October 25,260.208,000 1923 November 4,200,000,000,000  CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY Tends to shift when stability is restored Weber called this “routinization of charisma” Typically evolves toward traditional or legal authority