Introduction Chapter

Power, Authority, and Legitimacy

Power - the ability of one person to get another person to act in accordance with the first persons intentions

• words matter and hold extreme power

Authority - the right to use power

• people may or may not have the authority to use power

• rightful power is easier to exercise than power that is not supported by a persuasive claim

Formal Authority - the right to exercise power is vested in a government office

• a person has political authority in the US if their right to act is conferred by law or by the Constitution

Legitimacy - what makes a law a source of right; political authority conferred by law or the constitution

• the constitution is widely accepted as legitimate

• the constitution gives authority to use power

• Americans believe that power should not be given if it is not democratically voted on

Democracy - the rule of many

Direct or Participatory Democracy - government in which all or most citizens participate directly

Representative Democracy - a government in which leaders make decisions by winning a competitive struggle for popular vote

Why representative deocracy over direct? population size and direct democracy can lead to bad decisions

what is needed for a democracy to work?

• genuine competitive leader selection

• individuals and parties can run

• communication is free

• voters perceive that a meaningful choice exists

Elite - people who possess a disproportionate share of some valued resource

Class View - the government is dominated by capitalists

Power Elite View - the government s dominated by a few top leaders, mustly outside the govt

Bureaucratic View - the government is dominated by appointed officals

5 Different View Points of Power in America

1. wealth capitalists and other elites determine most policy (extreme view)

   • the rich hold power

2. a group of business, military, labor unions, and elected officals control decisionmaking

3. appointed bureaucrats run everything

4. Representatives of a large number of interests groups are in charge

   • resources are widely distrubuted (no one group has power)

Pluralist View - interest group competition

5. morally impassionate elites drive political change

Key Questions

1. Who Governs?

   • who rules and who determines laws and policy changes

2. And to what ends?

   • influences everything in our lives

Political Agenda - issues that people believe require govt action