Power, Authority & Legitimacy Module 3 PDF

MODULE 3 Power, Authority & Legitimacy FYBA SIUPOA111 Understanding Power, Authority & Legitimacy Author: Khaliq Parkar  Power, Authority and Legitimacy are the “golden triangle” that every system of government or management seek. Power can be exerted by anyone,...

MODULE 3 Power, Authority & Legitimacy FYBA SIUPOA111 Understanding Power, Authority & Legitimacy Author: Khaliq Parkar  Power, Authority and Legitimacy are the “golden triangle” that every system of government or management seek. Power can be exerted by anyone, but unless that person is perceived as being in authority then they will face disobedience. Legitimacy can be seen as the way that a system of power can achieve authority by being seen as rightful. Understanding Power Power is a capacity that includes skills and techniques in the use of consent and constraint, as well as the ability to persuade, threaten or coerce to gain ascendancy over other states. Power is a psycho political phenomenon. In simple sense it is the capacity of the person/group/institution to affect /change/modify the behaviour of other person/group/institution. Apply it to individuals and states. Discuss.  Bases of Power Legitimate – This comes from the belief that a Reward – This results Expert – This is based on a person has the formal from one person's ability person's high levels of right to make demands, to compensate another skill and knowledge. and to expect others to be for compliance. compliant and obedient. Informational – This Referent – This is the Coercive – This comes results from a person's result of a person's from the belief that a ability to control the perceived attractiveness, person can punish others information that others worthiness and right to for noncompliance. need to accomplish others' respect. something. Resources Economic based on Military Social status power/ Numerical Strength Sources of Quality of Human Resource power DISCUSS EXAMPLES GIVEN IN CLASS Pluralist view of Power Robert Dahl came up with the pluralist view – that power is exerted by lots of different groups, there isn’t one all powerful elite. Dahl carried out famous studies on local governments across America, looking at how often different groups “got their way”, and discovered that no one group (ie big business, trade unions etc) seemed to get their way all of the time.  Steven Lukes has described 'three faces of power' (also called the 'three dimensions of power') in his work studying politics and society. The basic principle is that the power and consequent effectiveness of a group is based on three distinct aspects. Issue The first face is about the ability of one person to achieve compliance by others who change how they behave as a result of the power being exerted. It can be seen in systems of ruling elites, where few people have significant power. As such, power is direct, with identification of an issue and a singular response to this. It is, in essence, about making decisions. Agenda The second face, as proposed by theorists such as Bachrach and Baratz, adds the more subtle system of power, where decision is made within a complex system. In this situation, power is not just about making decisions, but also about setting the agenda that leads to decisions. Manipulation The third face no human being possesses an entirely independent mind; the ideas, opinions and preferences of all are structured and shaped by social experience, through the influence of family, peer groups, school, the workplace, the mass media, political parties and so forth. This can be seen as similar to the Marxist view of ideological power, where the ability to control what people think of as being 'right' can lead to acceptance of biased decisions without question. Foucault on Power Michel Foucault asserts that power is everywhere, in every relationship; we are constantly subjecting it and being objects of it. Marxist-Leninist conception of power as emanating from one source, capital, with all other struggles secondary to, or a product of, that primary battle. Foucault argues that there are multiple sources of power, and acknowledges the struggles by “women, prisoners, conscripted soldiers, hospital patients, and homosexuals against the particularised power, the constraints and controls, that are exerted over them...these movements are linked to the revolutionary movement of the proletariat to the extent that they fight against the controls and constraints which serve the same system of power.” For Foucault, power and knowledge are not seen as independent entities but are inextricably related—knowledge is always an exercise of power and power always a function of knowledge.  Foucault’s Discipline & Punish Foucault argues that discipline is a mechanism of power that regulates the thought and behaviour of social actors through subtle means. In contrast to the brute, sovereign force exercised by monarchs or lords, discipline works by organizing space (e.g. the way a prison or classroom is built), time (e.g. the set times you are expected to be at work each day), and everyday activities. Surveillance is also an integral part of disciplinary practices. In Discipline and Punish, Foucault argues that modern society is a “disciplinary society,” meaning that power in our time is largely exercised through disciplinary means in a variety of institutions (prisons, schools, hospitals, militaries, etc.). “He is seen, but he does not see; he is an object of information, never a subject in communication.” Governmentality In his later work, Foucault coined the now influential concept of governmentality which means the “art of governing,” not simply at the level of state politics, but the governing of a wide array of objects and persons such as entire populations at the most abstract level and one’s own desires and thoughts at a more micro level. Unlike disciplinary power aimed at the training of individual bodies, the management of populations relied on biopower, understood as the policies and procedures that manage births, deaths, reproduction, and health and illness within the larger social body. Authority According to Carl Friedrich, an authority is the embodiment of reason and depends on the capacity of reasoned elaboration. Authority regulates behaviour mainly by speech and words, not force. Authority implies that someone has an obligation to obedience. Authority = Power + Legitimacy Discuss/ justify Max Weber on Authority Max Weber’s definition of power in society has remained the starting point for many sociologists. He defined power as being: “the ability of an individual or group to achieve their own goals or aims when others are trying to prevent them from realising them” From this Weber identified power as being either authoritative or coercive. Authoritative power is exercising power which is seen as legitimate. By being legitimate it is effective because those who are subject to the power do so with consent. In contrast coercion is where someone exercises power through force – you’re forcing someone to do something against their wishes.  Why do we not question it when some people make decisions that affect our lives even if we don’t agree with those decisions, when if others tried to we would definitely argue or refuse to comply? Authority is getting people to obey without having to persuade them, or argue with them, or pressurising on them. Why government needs authority? Achieving authority is central to any government, because in the absence of willing compliance , governments are only able to maintain order through the use of fear, intimidation and violence. MAKE YOUR OWN ARGUMENT ON THE BASIS OF AN EXAMPLE Three forms of Authority In contrast authoritative power isn’t coercive and Weber argues it manifests itself in three forms— Charismatic authority – this type of authoritative power is based on ‘charisma’ – for example the personal qualities an individual has in order to influence a group or person. Traditional authority – this form of authoritative power comes from established customs passing power down on a hereditary basis – for example British monarchy Rational-legal authority – this form of authoritative power comes from certain groups having certain positions of power over subordinate groups – for example a policeman telling you to move De Jure and De Facto Authority In ’de jure’ sense legal or traditional rules make it possible for auctor to exercise his right to pass commands or orders or directions, i.e. to be "in authority". De jure authority pre-supposes a system of rules which determine who shall be the auctor, that is who shall be those who with reasoned elaboration, shall take decisions, make pronouncements, issue commands and perform certain acts. In certain cases authority can be exercised by persons without backing for legal or traditional rules. And in such cases even person who are legally entitled to pass orders can be overruled by the person who is legally not authorized to do so. But still people or followers accept such commands and defer the commands of legally entitled person. In such sense authority is „de facto’ which derives from personal characteristics of the auctor. Thus the right to give orders is distinct from the ability to secure obedience to them. A person exercises de facto authority with others in virtue of certain personal qualities. He does not need to resort to force, threats, bribes or the like. He does not need to justify saying that a particular course of action, should be adopted in the way a man who lacked his authority might have to. Legitimacy In political science, legitimacy is the widespread acceptance of an authority, usually a governing law or a regime. Political legitimacy is considered a rudimentary condition for governing, without which a government will suffer legislative impasse and collapse. Legitimacy is "a value whereby something or someone is acknowledged and accepted as right and proper". In political science, legitimacy generally is understood as the popular acceptance and recognition by the public of the authority of a governing regime, whereby authority has political power through consent and mutual understandings, not pressure.  Legitimacy is a subjective term, dependent on the perspective of those affected by power. What is legitimate to a group of people might not necessarily be legitimate to another group. Thus, the Rightful legitimacy of a government depends on the belief of a majority that it is legitimate. authority and Legitimacy allows people to willingly compliance subject themselves to a power. In other words, a power is legitimate to the extent that it is seen by a majority as rightful or valid, thereby gaining willing compliance from the general population. Democratic/ constitutionalist regimes Dictatorial regimes David Easton refers to three types of legitimacy Ideological legitimacy is based on the moral convictions about the validity of the regime and incumbents of authority. When the source of legitimacy is the ideology prevailing in the society, it is called ideological legitimacy. Structural legitimacy is based on an independent belief in the validity of the structure and norms and incumbents of the authority. Personal legitimacy is based on the belief in the validity of the incumbents of authority roles to the authority roles themselves. The belief in the validity of authorities is based on their personal qualities.  David Beetham in “Legitimation of Power” Three criteria should be fulfil legitimacy: 1. Power must be exercised according to rules 2. Rules must be justified in terms of shared beliefs of government and the governed 3. Must be demonstrated by the expression of consent on the part of the governed  Max Weber’s concept of legitimacy discusses how power becomes legitimate.Weber identifies three pillars of legitimacy; Tradition gives power the advantage of history, inculcating in people a natural inclination to obey. Authority in traditional societies is based on customs and Weber’s traditions which are regarded as rightful because they have been in place for a long time, validated by a “habitual orientation to conform” cultivated through concept of the ages. For instance, the constitutional monarchies in Jordan and Norway still rely on this pillar. Legitimacy Legality accords legitimacy by restraining the power of the government, ensuring that it is acting according to established rules set in a constitution. A constitutional government is a form of contract between the government and the governed, which guarantees that the government will act according to the laws in exchange for obedience. Ideology embodies a set of ideas or a person, in which case it becomes charisma. Notable ideologies include democracy and communism. Ideology gives power legitimacy by providing a promise or vision of an ideal society, inspiring people to obey in order to achieve that vision.  Consent Sources of Beneficial Outcomes Legitimacy Public Reason & Democratic Approval Sources of Legitimacy explained Raz helpfully distinguishes among three ways in which the relation between consent and legitimate political authority may be understood (1995: 356): (i) consent of those governed is a necessary condition for the legitimacy of political authority; (ii) consent is not directly a condition for legitimacy, but the conditions for the legitimacy of authority are such that only political authority that enjoys the consent of those governed can meet them; (iii) the conditions of legitimate political authority are such that those governed by that authority are under an obligation to consent. In the utilitarian view, legitimate political authority should be grounded on the principle of utility. Jeremy Bentham rejects the Hobbesian idea that political authority is created by a social contract. According to Bentham, it is the state that creates the possibility of binding contracts. The problem of legitimacy that the state faces is which of its laws are justified. Bentham proposes that legitimacy depends on whether a law contributes to the happiness of the citizens. Public reason accounts tend to focus on the problem of justifying political coercion. The solution they propose is that political coercion is justified if it is supported on the basis of reasons that all reasonable persons can share.According to Rawls, “political power is legitimate only when it is exercised in accordance with a constitution (written or unwritten) the essentials of which all citizens, as reasonable and rational, can endorse in the light of their common human reason”.  Exercise/ Activity Read about the Arab Spring (in Egypt, Libya & Syria) Make an argument on basis of the understanding of the concept of legitimacy Could there be a 'crisis of legitimation'? In his work, Legitimation Crisis (1973), Habermas identified these difficulties as ‘crisis tendencies’ within capitalist societies. These crisis tendencies emerged as a result of a fundamental contradiction between the logic of capitalist accumulation and popular pressures unleashed by democratic politics. Capitalist societies, based on the pursuit of profit and producing class inequalities, have to sustain political stability by invoking a normal claim to rule. In such a system, legitimacy is secured by democratic processes, which lead to further demands for social welfare provisions, increased popular participation and social equality. This inturn puts pressures on the state to expand its social responsibilities, and raises demands for state intervention for removing inequalities, forcing it to increase expenditure on welfare (non-profit) measures. Can this fail or be pressurized? What does a state do during such a legitimation crisis? In such scenarios of legitimation crisis, the modern state, according to Habermas, takes recourse simultaneously to ‘system steering’ dissociation of the economic (wage labour and capital relations) and the political spheres (institutions of governance). This means that the exploitative relationship between wage labour and capital is no longer part of the political sphere. The political sphere in turn becomes less participatory and more impersonal, bureaucratised, and distanced from the ruled. In other words, it means deregulation, privatisation (minimal state) Happy Studying!!