BASIC CONCEPTS IN POLITICS

- POWER
- AUTHORITY
- LEGITIMACY
 BASIC CONCEPTS IN POLITICS

• Political Science consists of concepts that are broad and can be

applied to different contexts & cultures
• However, there is less agreement on the definition of concepts
among political scientists
• Therefore, it is important to:
1. clearly state how you define important concepts,
2. use terms consistently as defined,
3. not assume others understand.
 POWER

Power > is as crucial in politics as scarcity is in economics.

What is power?
•Power: the ability to get others to do what you want
•The ability of A to get B to do something that B would not otherwise
have done > the ability to get what you want (usually in the face of
opposition)
•Power is not something that you can touch but is a kind of social
relationship
•However, you can tell if someone has power (say a family member with
money)
•It is essentially an ability, the capacity of a person to make someone
else act (or think) in a certain way.  
 POWER

• Power (as ability or capacity) may or may not be in

active deployment at any particular time
• When it is used, it is being exercised and when not in
use but capable of being used, it is potential
• In society, power invokes both positive and negative
feelings. Generally, we think of power as something
negative.
• Power is not necessarily negative nor is it equal to
(synonymous) with physical force
 SOURCES OF POWER

Power can be exercised in a variety of ways.

The threat of force (the stick): often associated with coercive
institutions such as the police or the military > if often says “do what I
want or else”
•Often the threat is left implicit, but this actually points to its
effectiveness
•“The stick which stays in the cupboard is the biggest stick of all”
 
 SOURCES OF POWER

 Exchange power (the deal)

• It says “You do something I want and in return I will do something
you want”
• The deal is based on the prospect of rewards
• In the state, there is a “contract” between the citizens and the
state > basis of exchange: citizens agree to subject themselves
to the authority of the state and in return, the state provides
various services: education, healthcare, protection, etc.
• Citizens pay taxes and the state provides services
• When people feel the state gives as well as it takes, they are more
likely to obey, and the regime becomes more stable
 SOURCES OF POWER

 Obligations (the kiss)

• The capacity to inspire loyalty, respect and commitment
• A says to B “You do something I want because you love me,
respect me, or are in other ways committed to me”
• Often seen in social institutions, such as the church, family
 SOURCES OF POWER
  Use force Make deals Create obligations

(the stick) (the deal) (the kiss)

Nature Coercive threats Productive exchanges Integrative relationships

Motive for obedience Fear Gain Commitment

Institutions Military Economic Social

 SOURCES OF POWER

Political power typically involves a combination of force, exchange

and obligation.
•For ex: taxation
•One reason why people pay up is coercion > feel the heavy hand of
the state if they are caught evading payment
•Another reason is exchange > people are willing to pay through
taxes for services such as health, education and welfare
•Sense of obligation > what would happen if everyone else evaded
their taxes?
 AUTHORITY
Key question: how to legitimize a ruler’s position, ie. how to convert
power into authority
•Authority: the right to rule
•Exists when subordinates acknowledges the right of superiors to
give orders
•To acknowledge the authority of rules does not mean that you
agree with their decision(s), it rather means that you accept their
right to make decisions and your duty to obey them
>> for ex: lockdowns imposed by governments in response to
COVID-19
 AUTHORITY
Just as there are various sources of power, the same is true
of authority.
Max Weber: provides an analysis of the bases of authority
and distinguished three ways of validating political power.
Traditional authority: is based on custom/tradition
•Its legitimacy rests on long-established customs and
traditions
•Regarded as legitimate because it has ‘always existed’
 AUTHORITY

Examples: Chiefs, Kings and Queens

 AUTHORITY

• Charismatic authority: is based on the power of an

individual’s personality
• Charisma: charm or personal power > the
capacity to establish leadership through
psychological control of others
• Leaders inspire loyalty, emotional dependence &
devotion
• Short-lived unless the authority-figure can transfer
their authority to a permanent office or institution
 AUTHORITY

Example: Hitler
 AUTHORITY

 Legal-rational authority
• Authority linked to a clearly and legally defined set of
rules
• Typical form of authority operating in most modern states
• The power of a person in office is based on formal,
constitutional rules which limit a person’s power
• Attached to an office, not a person
 AUTHORITY

• Legal-rational authority > in modern bureaucracies, we don’t

obey laws just from fear or from tradition or from personal
allegiance but because we acknowledge the authority of the law
(and not just the power of those who enforce it)
• Can limit the abuse of power because it is based on the office
rather than the person, so we can speak of officials going
beyond their authority
• Spells out the limits of power > power is institutionalised and
based on an office rather than a person
 AUTHORITY
Example: the President of Botswana
 AUTHORITY

Type Basis Example

Traditional Custom and the established way of doing things Monarchy

Charismatic Intense commitment to the leader and his message Many revolutionary leaders

Legal-rational Rules and procedures – the office, not the person Bureaucracy
 LEGITIMACY
• Similar concept to authority; refers to rightful power > the rightfulness of
a regime or system of rule
• A widespread popular conviction that a government has the moral
and legal right to govern
• Often, the term “legitimacy” is used in discussing an entire system of
government, whereas “authority” often refers to specific positions within
a government > thus we often speak of the legitimacy of a regime but
the authority of an official
• A legitimate government is one which has the authority in the eyes of
the people it rules
• Legitimacy is not only based on elections: it can be derived from
tradition, religion, etc.
 LEGITIMACY

• Explains why citizens have a duty to respect the state

and obey its laws.
• Addresses the question not of why people should obey
the state but rather why they do > what encourages
them to see authority as rightful and therefore underpin
the stability of a regime?
 LEGITIMACY

• There is a reciprocal relationship between legitimacy and

performance.
• The more successful is a regime in providing what people
want, the greater and more deeply rooted is legitimacy
• A long record of successful performance builds a large
reservoir of legitimacy, enabling a democratic system to
weather crises and challenges.
• At the same time, legitimacy is also an independent variable
affecting performance of the regime; the more people
believe in democratic legitimacy, the more productive the
regime is likely to be in formulating responses to the
challenges it faces.