this: authority as a concept

In government, authority is often used interchangeably with the term "power". However, their meanings differ: while "power" refers to the ability to achieve certain ends, "authority" refers to a claim of legitimacy, the justification and right to exercise that power. For example, whilst a mob has the power to punish a criminal, for example by lynching, many peopleWho: date=April 2009 consider that only a court of law to has the authority to order capital punishment.

Since the emergence of the social sciences, authority has been a subject of research in a variety of empirical settings; the family (parental authority), small groups (informal authority of leadership), intermediate organizations, such as schools, churches, armies, industries and bureaucracies (organizational and bureaucratic authorities) and society-wide or inclusive organizations, ranging from the most primitive tribal society to the modern nation-state and intermediate organization (political authority).

The jurisdiction of political authority, the location of sovereignty, the balancing of freedom and authority (cf. Cristi, 2005) and the requirements of political obligations have been core questions, for political philosophers, from Plato and Aristotle, to the present.

Quote: Bertrand de Jouvenel

Etymology

The word authority derives from the Latin word "auctoritas", used in Roman law as opposed to potestas and imperium. According to Giorgio Agamben (2005), "auctoritas has nothing to do with magistrates or the people's potestas or imperium. The Senator… is not a magistrate".

Religious perceptions

Most major religious groups have always considered God as the supreme authority. Many religious texts have considered God to have an authority and wisdom that is infinitely superior to any human authority or wisdom: see LORD. The source or reason behind this authority usually involves tremendous power and compassion, along with primacy in the physical and spiritual realms. That which is divine is usually thought of as the creator and therefore, superior to ordinary creatures.

Weber on authority

Max Weber, in his sociological work, identified and distinguished three types of legitimate domination (Herrschaft in German, which generally means 'domination' or 'rule'), that have sometimes been rendered in English translation as types of authority, because domination isn't seen as a political concept in the first place. Weber defined domination (authority) as the chance of commands being obeyed by a specifiable group of people. Legitimate authority is that which is recognized as legitimate and justified by both the ruler and the ruled.

Weber divided legitimate authority into three types:

• The first type discussed by Weber is Rational-legal authority. It is that form of authority which depends for its legitimacy on formal rules and established laws of the state, which are usually written down and are often very complex. The power of the rational legal authority is mentioned in the constitution. Modern societies depend on legal-rational authority. Government officials are the best example of this form of authority, which is prevalent all over the world.