Power, Authority, Legitimacy, Justice

Power

is the capacity to effect outcomes, to effect means to cause or bring about. Outcomes are actions or results

Capability or potential

Power is above all a ???

Potere

What latin word did power was derived from which mean to be able?

Power in agenda-setting

Bachrach and Baratz described non-decision making as the second face of power.

Power as thought control

refers to the ability of A to exercise power over B, not by getting B to do what he would not otherwise do

Power and Authority

are used interchangeably to refer to the legal right of the state and its officials to take certain actions-to make and enforce legally binding laws and decisions.

political process

often determines who has the power to distribute and acquire various resources.

Power as dominance

the ability to determine or control political outcomes-especially when it exists on a regular or continuing basis rather than occasionally-is the ability to exercise dominance in political life.

Dominance

is the maximum degree of political power.

Influence

refers to the capacity to affect outcomes indirectly or partially

Support
Violence
Inheritance

Ways on how power is gained?

Legitimacy

refers to whether a country’s political regime-such as a democracy of some kind, a military dictatorship or a monarchy – is regarded s a proper or acceptable form of government.

Rational-persuasion

one form of influence that often is singled out as humane and desirable takes place by means of rational communication

Manipulative persuasion

exist when A influences B by communicating that intentionally distorts, falsifies or omits aspects of truth known to A that if made known to B would significantly affect B’s decision

Inducement

The employer might prefer to avoid a strike by giving in to a wage increase, thus inducing the employees to stay on the job.

Authority

right to exercise power, is based upon a perceived right to rule and brings about compliance through moral obligation on the part of the ruled to obey.

Authority has a moral character

This implies that that it is less important that authority is obeyed than that it should be obeyed

Traditional authority

sanctified by history and is based upon immemorial custom, in practice it tends to operate through a hierarchical system which allocates to each person within a society a particular status.

Charismatic authority

is based on the individual’s personality or charisma.

Legal-rational authority

Type of authority operates through the existence of a body of clearly defined rules;

Authority

regarded as an essential feature of all social institutions; it reflects basic needs for leadership, guidance and support

Natural necessity

authority is seldom based upon consent but arises out of what ???

Authoritarian rule

The erosion of authority can pave the way for

Legitimacy

the quality that transforms power into rightful authority;

Rousseau

argued that government was legitimate if it was based upon the general will.

Power is exercised according to established rules
These rules must be justified in terms of the shared beliefs of the government and governed Expression of consent on the part of the governed.

In David Beetham’s view power is said to be legitimate if it has these three characteristics

Constitution and Consent

liberal democratic systems are able to guarantee continued legitimacy for ensuring that government power is not unchecked or arbitrarily but is exercised in accordance with the preferences and interest of the general public.

Constitution

do not merely confer legitimacy; they are themselves bodies of rules, which are subject to questions of legitimacy.

Ideological hegemony

Ideological control can be used to maintain stability and build legitimacy.

Legitimation Crisis

The core of this argument was the tension between a private enterprise or capitalist economy, on one hand and a democratic political system, on the other, in effect, the system of capitalist democracy may be inherently unstable

Justice

is about giving each person what he or she is due.

Justice

Involves the creation and enforcement of a public set of rules, but to be just these rules must themselves have a moral underpinning.

Procedural justice

Refers to the manner in which decisions or outcomes are achieved, as opposed to the content of the decisions themselves.

Procedural Justice

Legal systems operate according to established set of rules designed to ensure a just outcome.

Substantive Justice

the content of law must therefore be judged in the light of a principle of substantive or concrete justice.

Consensus laws

are ones that conform to commonly held standards of fairness or justice; they are laws people are prepared to put up with.

Non-consensus laws

are ones widely regarded as unacceptable or unjust, normally reflected in the fact of widespread disobedience (e.g. payment of taxes).