authority

   The ability of governments and individuals to direct others and achieve their goals because the mass of people accept that it is their right to tell them what to do, rather than because of the power or force they have at their disposal. Power is the ability to influence or determine the behaviour of others; authority is power cloaked in rightfulness. Usually, the exercise of authority implies that others will obey without the use of force having to be used. This is because authority is based on the existence of rules of behaviour or other acceptable criteria that mean some have the right to issue orders which others are obliged to obey.

   The German scholar Max Weber believed that the three sources of political authority were tradition (the right to rule deriving from the continuous exercise of political power), charisma (the attraction of support because of the ideas, dynamism and strength of personality of the ruler) and legality (the authority that stems from the political office a person holds, authority which is exercised in a legal manner and is recognised by law).

   Whereas power can depend on naked force or coercion, authority is evaluated by the criterion of whether it is justifiable or not. It is closely linked to the idea of legitimacy. Governments in a democracy derive their legitimate authority from the consent of those over whom they govern, as determined in periodic, free and meaningful elections.

   Further reading: M.Weber, The Theory of Economic and Social Organisation, University of California Press, 1922