Politics, Power And Authority

Question 1

Power

Answer 1

Power is the probability that an individual can achieve his or her will even against another individual’s opposition.

Question 2

Authority

Answer 2

Authority is legitimate power in which people believe that the differences in power are just and proper – that is, people view a leader as being entitled to give orders. Authority can be of three types: (1) traditional, (2) charismatic, and (3) rational-legal.

Question 3

Traditional authority

Answer 3

Traditional authority is power that is legitimised on the basis of long-standing customs. It relies on the sanctity of time-honoured norms that govern the selection of someone to a powerful position. People comply with a leader because they believe they are accountable to the past and have an obligation to perpetuate it. To give up past ways of doing things is to renounce a heritage and an identity.

Question 4

Rational-legal authority

Answer 4

Rational legal authority is power legitimised by law or written rules and regulations. Rational-legal authority derives from a system of impersonal rules that formally specify the qualifications for occupying a power position. These rules also specify the scope of that power and appropriate conduct.

Question 5

Charismatic authority

Answer 5

Charismatic authority is power legitimised on the basis of a leader’s exceptional personal qualities or the demonstration of extraordinary insight and accomplishments that inspire loyalty and obedience from followers.

Question 6

Democracy

Answer 6

Democracy is a system of government in which power is vested in the citizens or the people, and in which the citizenry participates directly or indirectly in making decisions.

Question 7

Totalitarianism

Answer 7

Totalitarianism is a system of government characterized by (1) a single ruling party led by a dictator, (2) an unchallenged official ideology that defines a vision of the perfect society and the means to achieve that vision, (3) a system of social control that suppresses dissent and opposition, and (4) centralised control over the media and the economy.

Question 8

Authoritarianism

Answer 8

An authoritarian government is a system of government in which there is no separation of power and a single person (dictator), group (family, military, single party) or social class holds all power.

Question 9

Theocracy

Answer 9

Theocracy is a form of government in which political authority rests in the hands of religious leaders or a theologically trained elite group. Under this system, there is no separation of church and state.

Question 10

Power Elite

Answer 10

The power elite are those few people who occupy such lofty positions in the social structure of leading institutions that their decisions affect millions, even billions, of people worldwide.

Question 11

Pluralist Models

Answer 11

Pluralist models of power view politics as a plurality of special interest groups competing, compromising, forming alliances and negotiating with each other for power.