Power and Authority - CNX

OpenStax-CNX module: m42912 1

Power and Authority*

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Abstract

• De�ne and di�erentiate between power and authority• Identify and describe the three types of authority

*Version 1.3: Jul 29, 2013 1:00 pm -0500�http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

http://cnx.org/content/m42912/1.3/


Figure 1: The White House, one of the world's most widely recognized state buildings, symbolizes theauthority of the U.S. presidency. (Courtesy U.S. National Archives/Wikimedia Commons)



From the time of King Henry VIII to the time of Will and Kate, the role of the royal family in the Britishgovernment has shifted dramatically. Between those two eras�and across the Atlantic�former Britishsubjects in what is now the United States fought for an alternative system of government . . . one thatleft no room for royalty. Despite these di�erences, governments play the same fundamental role: in somefashion, they exert control over the people they govern. The nature of that control�what we will de�ne aspower and authority�is an important part of society.

Sociologists have a distinctive approach to studying governmental power and authority that di�ers fromthe perspective of political scientists. For the most part, political scientists focus on studying how poweris distributed in di�erent types of political systems. They would observe, for example, that the UnitedStates' political system is divided into three distinct branches (legislative, executive, and judicial), and theywould explore how public opinion a�ects political parties, elections, and the political process in general.Sociologists, however, tend to be more interested in the in�uences of governmental power on society and inhow social con�icts arise from the distribution of power. Sociologists also examine how the use of powera�ects local, state, national, and global agendas, which in turn a�ect people di�erently based on status,class, and socioeconomic standing.



1 What Is Power?

Figure 2: Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was one of the most powerful and destructive dictators in modernhistory, pictured here with fascist Benito Mussolini of Italy. (Photo courtesy of U.S. National Archivesand Records Administration)

For centuries, philosophers, politicians, and social scientists have explored and commented on the nature ofpower. Pittacus (c. 640-568 B.C.E.) opined, �The measure of a man is what he does with power,� and LordActon perhaps more famously asserted, �Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely� (1887).Indeed, the concept of power can have decidedly negative connotations, and the term itself is di�cult tode�ne.

Many scholars adopt the de�nition developed by German sociologist Max Weber, who said that poweris the ability to exercise one's will over others (Weber 1922). Power a�ects more than personal relationships;it shapes larger dynamics like social groups, professional organizations, and governments. Similarly, a gov-ernment's power is not necessarily limited to control of its own citizens. A dominant nation, for instance,will often use its clout to in�uence or support other governments or to seize control of other nation states.E�orts by the U.S. government to wield power in other countries have included joining with other nationsto form the Allied forces during World War II, entering Iraq in 2002 to topple Saddam Hussein's regime,



and imposing sanctions on the government of North Korea in the hopes of constraining its development ofnuclear weapons.

Endeavors to gain power and in�uence do not necessarily lead to violence, exploitation, or abuse. Leaderssuch as Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi, for example, commanded powerful movementsthat a�ected positive change without military force. Both men organized nonviolent protests to combatcorruption and injustice and succeeded in inspiring major reform. They relied on a variety of nonviolentprotest strategies such as rallies, sit-ins, marches, petitions, and boycotts.

Modern technology has made such forms of nonviolent reform easier to implement. Today, protesterscan use cell phones and the internet to disseminate information and plans to masses of protesters in a rapidand e�cient manner. In Tunisia in 2011, for example, a nonviolent popular uprising led to the president'sresignation, ushered in the end of one-party rule, and paved the way for e�orts at reform. The success ofthe Tunisian uprising, broadcast worldwide via Twitter feeds and other social media, was an inspiration topolitical activists in other countries as well (a spread of demonstrations that the media called the �ArabSpring�). Notice that, in this example, the users of power were the citizens rather than their governments.They found they had power because they were able to exercise their will over their own leader. Thus,government power does not necessarily equate with absolute power.

Figure 3: Young people and students were among the most ardent supporters of democratic reformin the recent Arab Spring. Social media also played an important role in rallying grassroots support.(Photo courtesy of cjb22/�ickr)



: Recent movements and protests that were organized to reform governments and install democraticideals in northern African and the Middle East have been collectively labeled �Arab Spring� byjournalists. In describing the dramatic reform and protests in these regions, journalists have notedthe use of internet vehicles like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, some even implying that thistechnology has been instrumental in spurring these reforms. In a nation with a strong capacityfor media censorship, social sites provided an opportunity for citizens to circumvent authoritarianrestrictions (Zuckerman 2011).

As discontents in northern Africa used the Internet to communicate, it provided them with aninvaluable tool: anonymity. John Pollock (2011), in an authoritative analysis published in MIT'sTechnology Review, gave readers an intriguing introduction to two transformative revolutionariesnamed �Foetus� and �Waterman,� who are leaders in the Tunisian rebel group Takriz. Both menrelied heavily on the internet to communicate and even went so far as to call it the �GPS� for therevolution (Pollock 2011). Before the internet, meetings of protestors led by dissidents like Foetusand Waterman often required participants to assemble in person, placing them at risk of beingraided by government o�cials. Thus, leaders would more likely have been jailed, tortured�andperhaps even killed�before movements could gain momentum.

The Internet also enabled widespread publicity about the atrocities being committed in the Arabregion. The fatal beating of Khaled Said, a young Egyptian computer programmer, provides aprime example. Said, who possessed videos highlighting acts of police corruption in Egypt, wasbrutally killed by law enforcement o�cers in the streets of Alexandria. After Said's beating, Said'sbrother used his cell phone to capture photos of his brother's grisly corpse and uploaded them toFacebook. The photos were then used to start a protest group called �We Are All Khaled Said,�which now has more than a million members (Pollock 2011). Numerous other videos and images,similarly appalling, were posted on social media sites to build awareness and incite activism amonglocal citizens and the larger global community.

2 Types of Authority

The protesters in Tunisia and the civil rights protesters of Martin Luther King's day had in�uence apartfrom their position in a government. Their in�uence came, in part, from their ability to advocate for whatmany people held as important values. Government leaders might have this kind of in�uence as well, butthey also have the advantage of wielding power associated with their position in the government. As thisexample indicates, there is more than one type of authority in a community.

Authority refers to accepted power�that is, power that people agree to follow. People listen to authority�gures because they feel that these individuals are worthy of respect. Generally speaking, people perceivethe objectives and demands of an authority �gure as reasonable and bene�cial, or true.

A citizen's interaction with a police o�cer is a good example of how people react to authority in everydaylife. For instance, a person who sees the �ashing red and blue lights of a police car in his rearview mirrorusually pulls to the side of the road without hesitation. Such a driver most likely assumes that the policeo�cer behind him serves as a legitimate source of authority and has the right to pull him over. As part ofher o�cial duties, the police o�cer then has the power to issue a speeding ticket if the driver was drivingtoo fast. If the same o�cer, however, were to command the driver to follow her home and mow her lawn,the driver would likely protest that the o�cer does not have the authority to make such a request.

Not all authority �gures are police o�cers or elected o�cials or government authorities. Besides formalo�ces, authority can arise from tradition and personal qualities. Economist and sociologist Max Weberrealized this when he examined individual action as it relates to authority, as well as large-scale structures ofauthority and how they relate to a society's economy. Based on this work, Weber developed a classi�cationsystem for authority. His three types of authority are traditional authority, charismatic authority and legal-rational authority (Weber 1922).



Weber's Three Types of Authority



Traditional Charismatic Legal-Rational

Legitimized by long-standingcustom

Based on a leader's personal qual-ities

Authority resides in the o�ce,not the person

Historic personality Dynamic personality Bureaucratic o�cials

Patriarchy (traditional positionsof authority)

Napoleon, Jesus Christ, MotherTeresa, Martin Luther King, Jr.

U.S. presidency and CongressModern British Parliament

Table 1: Max Weber identi�ed and explained three distinct types of authority:

2.1 Traditional Authority

According to Weber, the power of traditional authority is accepted because that has traditionally beenthe case; its legitimacy exists because it has been accepted for a long time. Britain's Queen Elizabeth, forinstance, occupies a position that she inherited based on the traditional rules of succession for the monarchy.People adhere to traditional authority because they are invested in the past and feel obligated to perpetuateit. In this type of authority, a ruler typically has no real force to carry out his will or maintain his positionbut depends primarily on a group's respect.

A more modern form of traditional authority is patrimonialism, which is traditional domination that isfacilitated by an administration and military that are purely personal instruments of the master (Eisenberg1998). In this form of authority, all o�cials are personal favorites appointed by the ruler. These o�cialshave no rights, and their privileges can be withdrawn or augmented based on the caprices of the leader.The political organization of ancient Egypt typi�ed such a system: when the royal household decreed thata pyramid be built, every Egyptian was forced to work toward its construction.

Traditional authority can be intertwined with race, class, and gender. In most societies, for instance, menare more likely to be privileged than women and thus are more likely to hold roles of authority. Similarly,members of dominant racial groups or upper-class families also win respect more readily. In the UnitedStates, the Kennedy family, which has spawned many prominent politicians, exempli�es this model.

2.2 Charismatic Authority

The power of charismatic authority is accepted because followers are drawn to the leader's personalqualities. The appeal of a charismatic leader can be extraordinary, inspiring followers to make unusualsacri�ces or to persevere in the midst of great hardship and persecution. Charismatic leaders usually emergein times of crisis and o�er innovative or radical solutions. They may even o�er a vision of a new world order.Hitler's rise to power in the postwar economic depression of Germany is an example.

Charismatic leaders tend to hold power for short durations, and according to Weber, they are just aslikely to be tyrannical as they are heroic. Diverse male leaders such as Hitler, Napoleon, Jesus Christ,César Chávez, Malcolm X, and Winston Churchill are all considered charismatic leaders. Because so fewwomen have held dynamic positions of leadership throughout history, the list of charismatic female leaders iscomparatively short. Many historians consider �gures such as Joan of Arc, Margaret Thatcher, and MotherTeresa to be charismatic leaders.

2.3 Rational-Legal Authority

According to Weber, power made legitimate by laws, written rules, and regulations is termed rational-legalauthority. In this type of authority, power is vested in a particular rationale, system, or ideology and notnecessarily in the person implementing the speci�cs of that doctrine. A nation that follows a constitutionis applying this type of authority. On a smaller scale, you might encounter rational-legal authority in theworkplace via the standards set forth in the employee handbook, which provides a di�erent type of authoritythan that of your boss.



Of course, ideals are seldom replicated in the real world. Few governments or leaders can be neatlycategorized. Some leaders, like Mohandas K. Gandhi for instance, can be considered charismatic and legal-rational authority �gures. Similarly, a leader or government can start out exemplifying one type of authorityand gradually evolve or change into another type.

3 Summary

Sociologists examine government and politics in terms of their impact on individuals and larger social systems.Power is an entity or individual's ability to control or direct others, while authority is in�uence that ispredicated on perceived legitimacy. Max Weber studied power and authority, di�erentiating between thetwo concepts and formulating a system for classifying types of authority.

4 Section Quiz

Exercise 1 (Solution on p. 12.)

Which statement best expresses the di�erence between power and authority?

a. Authority involves intimidation.b. Authority is more subtle than power.c. Authority is based on the perceived legitimacy of the individual in power.d. Authority is inherited, but power is seized by military force.


Which of the following types of authority does not reside primarily in a leader?

a. Dictatorialb. Traditionalc. Charismaticd. Legal-rational


In the U.S. Senate, it is customary to assign each senator a seniority ranking based on years ofgovernment service and the population of the state he or she represents. A top ranking gives thesenator priority for assignments to o�ce space, committee chair positions, and seating on the senate�oor. What type of authority does this example best illustrate?

a. Dictatorialb. Traditionalc. Charismaticd. Legal-rational


Malcolm X used his public speaking abilities and magnetism to inspire African Americans to standup against injustice in an extremely hostile environment. He is an example of a(n) __________leader.

a. traditionalb. charismaticc. legal-rationald. illegitimate


Which current world �gure has the least amount of political power?



a. President Barack Obamab. Queen Elizabeth IIc. British Prime Minister David Camerond. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un


Which statement best expresses why there have been so few charismatic female leaders throughouthistory?

a. Women have di�erent leadership styles than men.b. Women are not interested in leading at all.c. Few women have had the opportunity to hold leadership roles over the courseof history.d. Male historians have refused to acknowledge the contributions of femaleleaders in their records.

5 Short Answer

Exercise 7Explain why leaders as divergent as Hitler and Jesus Christ are both categorized as charismaticauthorities.

Exercise 8Why do people accept traditional authority �gures even though these types of leaders have limitedmeans of enforcing their power?

Exercise 9Charismatic leaders are among the most fascinating �gures in history. Select a charismatic leaderthat you wish to learn more about, and conduct online research to �nd out more about this individ-ual. Then, write a paragraph describing the personal qualities that led to this person's in�uence,considering the society in which this leader emerged.

6 Further Research

Want to learn more about sociologists at work in the real world? Read this blog posting to learn more aboutthe roles sociology scholars played in the midst of the Arab Spring uprising: http://openstaxcollege.org/l/sociology_Arab_Spring1

7 References

Acton, Lord. 2010 [1887]. Essays on Freedom and Power. Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute.Eisenberg, Andrew. 1998. �Weberian Patrimonialism and Imperial Chinese History.� Theory and Society

27(1):83�102.Pollock, John. 2011. �How Egyptian and Tunisian Youth Hijacked the Arab Spring.� Technology Review,

September/October. Retrieved January 23, 2012 (http://www.technologyreview.com/web/38379/2 ).Weber, Max. 1978 [1922]. Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology. Berkeley:

University of California Press.Weber, Max. 1947 [1922]. The Theory of Social and Economic Organization. Translated by A. M.

Henderson and T. Parsons. New York: Oxford University Press.

1http://openstaxcollege.org/l/sociology_Arab_Spring2http://www.technologyreview.com/web/38379/



Zuckerman, Ethan. 2011. �Civil Disobedience and the Arab Spring.� My Heart's In Accra Blog, May6. Retrieved January 13, 2012 (http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2011/05/06/civic-disobedience-and-the-arab-spring/3 ).

3http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2011/05/06/civic-disobedience-and-the-arab-spring/



Solutions to Exercises in this Module

to Exercise (p. 9): AnswerCto Exercise (p. 9): AnswerDto Exercise (p. 9): AnswerBto Exercise (p. 9): AnswerBto Exercise (p. 9): AnswerBto Exercise (p. 10): AnswerC

Glossary

De�nition 3: authoritypower that people accept because it comes from a source that is perceived as legitimate

De�nition 3: charismatic authoritypower legitimized on the basis of a leader's exceptional personal qualities

De�nition 3: patrimonialisma type of authority wherein military and administrative factions enforce the power of the master

De�nition 3: powerthe ability to exercise one's will over others

De�nition 3: rational-legal authoritypower that is legitimized by rules, regulations, and laws

De�nition 3: traditional authoritypower legitimized on the basis of long-standing customs


Power and Authority - CNX

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