From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Authority
Authority
The word "authority" is derived from the Latin word auc- much freedom as reasonable, and that government
toritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or should limit its authority accordingly.
command. In English, the word ’authority’ can be used to In religion, there is a tendency to act in the belief
mean power given by the state (in the form of Members that what will result will be different than what would
of Parliament, Judges, Police Officers, etc.) or by acade- have happened had a subservient act(e.g. prayer, medi-
mic knowledge of an area (someone can be an authori- tation, service to others, etc.) not been performed- this
ty on a subject). The word "Authority" with capital "A", is the essence of exercised authority. What one does in
refers to the governning body upon which such authority expectation of meeting with the approval of the divine
(with lower case "a") is vested; for example, the Puerto is derived from some means of obtained faith. The faith
Rico Electric Power Authority or the Massachusetts Bay comes by being affected by the authoritative direction
Transportation Authority. of the divine. Authoritative sources in religion communi-
cate their direction through commandments and/or ex-
Authority in Philosophy pressed approval of behaviour deemed to be acceptable
or beneficial, with the expectation that the subject of this
In government, authority is often used interchangeably didactic process will use wisdom and understanding in
with "power". However, their meanings differ: while their actions of service.
"power" is defined as "the ability to influence somebody
to do something that he/she would not have done", "au-
thority" refers to a claim of legitimacy, the justification
Weber on Authority
and right to exercise that power. For example, while a Max Weber, in his sociological and philosophical work,
mob has the power to punish a criminal, for example by identified and distinguished three types of legitimate
lynching, people who believe in the rule of law consid- domination (Herrschaft in German, which generally
er that only a court of law has the authority to punish a means ’domination’ or ’rule’), that have sometimes been
criminal. rendered in English translation as types of authority, be-
Since the emergence of social sciences, authority has cause domination isn’t seen as a political concept in the
been a subject of research in a variety of empirical set- first place. Weber defined domination (authority) as the
tings: the family (parental authority), small groups (in- chance of commands being obeyed by a specifiable group
formal authority of leadership), intermediate organiza- of people. Legitimate authority is that which is recog-
tions, such as schools, churches, armies, industries and nized as legitimate and justified by both the ruler and the
bureaucracies (organizational and bureaucratic authori- ruled.
ties) and society-wide or inclusive organizations, rang- Weber divided legitimate authority into three types:
ing from the most primitive tribal society to the modern • The first type discussed by Weber is Rational-legal
nation-state and intermediate organization (political au- authority. It is that form of authority which depends
thority). The definition of authority in contemporary so- for its legitimacy on formal rules and established
cial science is a matter of debate. According to Michaels, laws of the state, which are usually written down
in the Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, authority is the and are often very complex. The power of the
capacity, innate or acquired for exercising ascendancy rational legal authority is mentioned in the
over a group. Other scientists, however, argue that au- constitution. Modern societies depend on legal-
thority is not a capacity but a relationship. It is sanc- rational authority. Government officials are the best
tioned power, institutionalized power. example of this form of authority, which is prevalent
In political philosophy, the jurisdiction of political all over the world.
authority, the location of sovereignty, the balancing of • The second type of authority is Traditional authority,
freedom and authority (cf. Cristi 2005), and the require- which derives from long-established customs, habits
ments of political obligations have been core questions and social structures. When power passes from one
from Plato and Aristotle to the present. In many demo- generation to another, then it is known as traditional
cratic societies, there is an ongoing discussion regarding authority. The right of hereditary monarchs to rule
the legitimate extent of governmental authority in gen- furnishes an obvious example. The Tudor dynasty in
eral. In the United States, for instance, there is a wide- England and the ruling families of Mewar, in
spread belief that the political system as it was instituted Rajasthan (India) are some examples of traditional
by the Founding Fathers should accord the populace as authority.
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Authority
• The third form of authority is Charismatic authority. this, every state sets up agencies which are competent
Here, the charisma of the individual or the leader in dealing with one particular matter. All this is set up
plays an important role. Charismatic authority is within its charter. One example would be a port author-
that authority which is derived from "the gift of ity like the Port of London. They are usually created by
grace" or when the leader claims that his authority is special legislation and are run by a board of directors.
derived from a "higher power" (e.g. God or natural Several agencies and institutions are created along the
law or rights) or "inspiration", that is superior to same lines and they exercise authority in certain matters.
both the validity of traditional and rational-legal They are usually required to support themselves through
authority and followers accept this and are willing to property taxes or other forms of collection or fees for
follow this higher or inspired authority, in the place services.
of the authority that they have hitherto been
following. Examples in this regard can be NT Rama
Rao, a matinee idol, who went on to become one of
See also
the most powerful Chief Ministers of Andhra • Authority (sociology)
Pradesh. • Authority (management)
History has witnessed several social movements or rev- • Anti-authoritarian
olutions, against a system of traditional or legal-rational • Appeal to authority
authority, which are usually started by Charismatic au- • Auctoritas
thorities. Weber states that what distinguishes authority, • Authoritarianism
from coercion, force and power on the one hand and • Cognitive authority
leadership, persuasion and influence on the other hand, • Dominance (ethology)
is legitimacy. Superiors, he states, feel that they have a • Milgram experiment
right to issue commands; subordinates perceive an oblig- • Petty authority
ation to obey. Social scientists agree that authority is but
one of several resources available to incumbents in for-
mal positions.[citation needed] For example, a Head of State
References
is dependent upon a similar nesting of authority. His le- • Giorgio Agamben, State of Exception (2005)
gitimacy must be acknowledged, not just by citizens, but • Hannah Arendt, Between Past and Future (New York,
by those who control other valued resources: his imme- Viking, 1961) "The Concept of Authority"
diate staff, his cabinet, military leaders and in the long • Józef Maria Bocheński, Was ist Autorität? (1974)
run, the administration and political apparatus of the en- • Renato Cristi, Hegel on Freedom and Authority (2005)
tire society. • Stuart Lachs, Means of Authorization: Establishing
Authority can be created either expressly or by im- Hierarchy in Ch’an/Zen Buddhism in America (1999)
plication; (2) public entities act publicly, using the same • Rafael Domingo Osle, Auctoritas (1999)
means to communicate the grant of authority to their • Karl Popper, On the Sources of Knowledge and of
agents that they use to communicate this to third parties; Ignorance (1960)
(3) apparent authority describes the situation when a • Max Weber, Economy and Society (1922)
principal has placed restrictions on an agent that are not
known to a third party; (4) restrictions on government External links
agents are accomplished in the open, through laws and
regulations; (5) everyone, including contractors, are sup- • Authority entry by Tom Christiano in the Stanford
posed to know the laws and regulations of our govern- Encyclopedia of Philosophy
ment; and thus (6) the concept of "apparent authority" • Qualitionary - Legal Definitions - Authority
is often inapt when dealing with the government, insofar • Appeal to Authority Breakdown
as the only cognizable restrictions on the agent’s author-
ity are deemed known to third parties, shattering any ap-
pearance of authority. (14)
Authority in a Liberal Democ-
ratic State
Every state has a number of institutions which exercise
authority based on longstanding practices. Apart from
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Authority&oldid=474444027"
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Authority
Categories:
• Social ethics
• Social psychology
• Political philosophy
• Social concepts
• Philosophy of law
This page was last modified on 1 February 2012 at 19:13. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.Contact us
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
3