PO102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Heredity
Document Summary
Those with authority have the right to exercise power! Involves granting of rights and responsibilities to particular individuals and groups so they can make the community function. Is the right to exercise power that is accepted by the governed (the people) as legitimate. A person received power and legitimacy because of the institution she/he represents. Ex: police, judge member of parliament - granted by society. Legitimacy that police and other with authority have, is often backed by the threat of sanction or punishment. Grounded in the sanctity of custom and tradition. Power was vested in a particular person due to heredity or custom. Grounded in exceptional personal qualities - supernatural, the divide. This form of authority can be boosted by crises or social unrest. Impersonal, derived from a position in an institution. Based on rule of law; or through a fair and socially acceptable process. Authority is limited since officials expected to follow laws and procedures.
