Power and Authority – Vocabulary Flashcards

Flashcards covering key concepts of power, legitimacy, and Weber’s three types of authority, including how authority is transferred and sustained.

Power

The ability to have one’s will carried out despite the resistance of others.

Polity

The political institution through which power is distributed and exercised.

Legitimate authority

Power whose use is considered just and appropriate by those over whom the power is exercised.

Traditional authority

Power rooted in long-standing beliefs and practices; tied to customs and inherited or divine designation; common in preindustrial societies and monarchies; authority resides in the individual regardless of qualifications.

Inheritance (basis of traditional authority)

One reason individuals enjoy traditional authority is that they are the children or relatives of people who already exercise traditional authority.

Divine designation (basis of traditional authority)

Belief that leaders are anointed by God or the gods to lead.

Rational-legal authority

Power derived from law; legitimacy comes from belief in the laws and rules; authority resides in the office filled by an individual, not in the individual themselves; a hallmark of modern democracies.

Office-based authority

In rational-legal authority, authority resides in the office rather than the person who occupies it.

Charismatic authority

Authority stemming from an individual's extraordinary personal qualities and followers’ devotion; can apply to a whole society or a specific group.

Routinization of charisma

The process by which charismatic authority is transformed into traditional or rational-legal authority, often after the leader’s death to ensure continuity.