INTRODUCTION

The English word power is derived from certain Latin and French word
‘poir’ which means ‘to be able’. In the study of politics ‘power’ is usually
regarded as a key concept. Power is central to the study of politics. It is
seen as a struggle for power. It can be seen as evil or unjust but the
exercise of power is accepted as endemic to humans as social beings.
MEANING
The study of power is concerned with how it is obtained, exercised and
controlled. It is the ability to control the behaviour of others in accordance
with one’s own intention. Power is the ability or capacity of a person to
change the behaviour of others in the manner one desires. In other words,
it is the capacity to control and get others do what one wants them to do
and also to see that they do not do what one does not want them to do.
The real meaning of this term has been a matter of controversy on
account of its social, economic, political, psychological and metaphysical
dimensions. There is no unanimity among the political scientists regarding
the definition of power. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle have admitted the
importance of power in their own way. Hobbes identifies with power some
‘future apparent good’. Laswell likens it with ‘influence’. Mao of China says
that ‘power flows from the barrel of a gun’. According to Laswell and
Kaplan, “The concept of power is perhaps the most fundamental in the
whole of political science, the political process in the shaping, distribution
and exercise of power”. Lord Acton said, “Power tends to corrupt and
absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
DEFINITIONS
1. Bertrand Russell – “Power is the capacity to influence the actions of
others.”
2. Hans. J. Morgenthau – “The power of man over the minds and actions of
others.”
3. Lasswell – “Power is the participation in the making of decisions.”
4. Tawney – “Power is the capacity of an individual or a group of individuals
to modify the conduct of others in the manner which one desires”.
5. Fredreich- “ Power is a certain kind of relationship”
6. M.G.Smith – “Power is the ability to act effectively over people and things
using means ranging from persuasion to coercion”

NATURE OF POWER
Ever since the ‘Leviathan’ of Hobbes appeared in 1651, the concept of
power in the realms of politics has become a momentous subject of
investigation so that now it is regarded as the key area of politics.
1. Power is relational
Power is a kind of human relationship. It is not a personal possession as
it is meaningless without people to recognise and respect it. It requires
people over whom it can be exercised. Political power has to be seen as a
relationship for the use of power, the presence of an actor or subject and
some other individual is essential so that the actor can influence other
individuals according to his capacity or wish.
2. Sanction is essential.
 Power is the capacity to affect another’s behaviour by the threat of some
form of sanction. The greater the sanction, the greater will be political
power. Sanction can be in the form of rewards or punishment.
3. Power is situational
Power is closely related to the position a person occupies. The power
exercised by a person depends on the situations and position. With the
change of position power also changes.
4. Power is abstract
Power is an abstract concept. Its presence is felt but It is not tangible.
5. Power is judged by influence
Though Power cannot be measured in absolute terms, it can be measured
in terms of the number of persons affected.

Sources of power
1. Knowledge
Power is derived from the expert knowledge a person acquires. It is also
known as the expert power. It comes from expert knowledge and skills. Expert
power means the expert influences another person's behavior. This is because
the expert has knowledge and skill which the other person needs but does not
possess. Persons like doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc., have expert power
because they have expert knowledge and skills, which others require.
2. Authority
Authority is also known as position power and official power. It comes
from the higher authority. In an organization, a manager gets power
because of his position or post. It gives him the power to control resources
and to reward and punish others. For e.g. a chief executive officer (C.E.O)
of a company gets legitimate powers because of the position which he
holds.
3. Charisma
This is the personal power or the power of personality. It is also called
referent power. This power comes from each leader individually. It is the
personality of a person that attracts followers. People follow because they
are influenced or attracted by the magnetic personality of the leader. The
followers admire their leaders and may even try to copy their behavior,
dress, etc. John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Ambedkar and Mahatma
Gandhi are the examples of leaders with referent power.
4. Economic resources.
Possession over huge economic resources adds up to a person’s power.
Throughout history, it had been the rich dominating over society.
5. Organisation and skill
Power of a person greatly depends on the person’s skill and ability to
command obedience. A diplomatic and skilful person always exercises
greater power than others.
6. Control over media
Control over media also increases power. Those managers and
proprietors of mass media can easily influence and wield obedience.
7. Co operation of people
To be most effective, people’s co operation is needed without which any
exercise of power would be meaningless.
TYPES OR KINDS OF POWER
 The classification of power is as follows;
1. Direct and indirect power – When a person or group of persons use
power, against others it is called direct power, while a person or group of
persons authorize others to use power or uses through subordinates, it is
called indirect power.
2. Legitimate and illegitimate power – Legitimate power accrues through
law and illegitimate power is accrued by force or violence and it is against
the laws. Constitution or accepted customs, or acts sanction the same
rights to the public and if they act according to the rules and regulations,
the power is considered as legitimate power. Illegitimate power can only
be acquired by force, aggression and violence. The people obey legitimate
power and revolt against illegitimate power.
3. Political power– Political power rests with the state. Political power lies
in the administration of the state. It refers to the power exercised by the
govt. It is exercised through formal and informal organs. Formal organs
are the executive, legislature and judiciary. Informal organs are the
political parties, pressure groups and public opinion.
4. Manifest power and latent power – The power which can be exercised
openly and clearly is called manifest power. Military power is an example
of manifest power. The power which cannot be exercised openly or clearly
is called latent power. Media such as the press and TV are examples of
latent power.
5. Centralized and decentralized power – When the power has been
concentrated with one authority it is called centralized power. When the
power is distributed and decentralized it is called decentralized power. In
India and USA power is decentralized in different states.
6. Charismatic Power- It is linked with personality. There are people who
have such a personality, an attractive way of talking and convincing, etc.
that the people are attracted. Such an attraction can be because of past
or present sacrifices, selfless devotion to a cause, etc. Again it has no
legal authority behind it. Example in India Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal
Nehru and Smt. Indira Gandhi among others had a charismatic
personality.
7. Economic Power - It is a type of power that has its basis or roots in
economic prosperity. It means that power comes to a person or state
because the individual or state has strong economic and financial backing.
In the past feudal system was based purely on this basis. Likewise
economically
8. Traditional power – Traditional power is derived from the traditions and
customary practices of society. Such power is obeyed not because of the
person or laws but due to the reverence for traditions and customs.

Methods of exercising power

It is always difficult to acquire power but still more difficult it is to properly
exercise that. It is only judicious exercise of power which can bring honour
and dignity to its holder. Non judicious use of power can result in
 rebellions and expression of resentment in several ways and also at the
same time indicates weakness of the system as a whole.
1. First and simplest method of using power is that of persuasion for doing
something desired to be done. In this method there is no use of force but
only those of the arguments, removing misunderstanding, defining terms
and phrases which have ambiguity and thus international affairs... In the
national field government uses this method for satisfying agitators,
demonstrators, trade unions and others. In the international field small
nations try to persuade big ones of their needs and the latter of their
approach to international problems for getting their support on
international forums and in international bodies and organisations.
2. Another method of using power is that of rewards. This method is
frequently used at the international level. Such rewards can be in the form
of military aid and assistance, monetary benefits,food supplies, loans etc.
This is positive sanction.
3. Then ‘power’ can be used as a method of punishment as well. It is
called negative use of power. It is usually used by the state to check anti
social and anti-national activities of the people.
4. Last method of use of ‘power’ is that of use of force. When all other
methods have failed to serve that purpose the people or group or individual
which has been vested with power uses that and enforces its will with the
help of force. Actual use of threatened punishment is called force. In its
naked and brute form force finds expression in the shape of war.

Authority
MEANING
The word ‘authority’ is derived from the old Roman notion of ‘Auctor’ or
Auctoritos ’which meant ‘counsel’ or ‘advice’.. Authority means the
institutionalized exercise of legitimate power backed by law or
constitution and common consent. Authority is the legitimate or socially
approved use of power that a person or a group holds over another. Legitimacy
is vital to the notion of authority; legitimacy is the main means by which
authority is distinguished from mere general notions of power. Power can be
exerted by the use of force or violence. Authority, by contrast, depends on
subordinate groups consenting to the use of power wielded by superior groups.
It is this consent to or acceptance of power of the ruler by the ruled that
strengthens the power and gives him the authority. Political authority is
based on the acceptance of the right to rule. In the political sphere, power
is authority. It refers to the power of the state which is socially accepted
and recognised. It is the rightful use of power. It implies the recognised
right to exercise power both by the person who exercises it and also by
the people over whom it is exercised. Obedience to it is willing and
voluntary.
DEFINITIONS OF AUTHORITY
Max Weber – “Political authority is based on the acceptance of the right
to rule, and this is also called legitimacy.”
McIver “Authority is often defined as being power, the power to
command obedience.”
Robert Dahl, “Legitimate power is generally called Authority”.
 NATURE OR CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTHORITY
1. Authority is not formal Power
Though Authority and power are closely related, they are not same.
Authority is something that accompanies power. It is legitimate power.
Authority is always characterised by legitimacy which means willing and
voluntary acceptance of authority. It is legitimacy that differentiates
power from authority. Authority ends when voluntary assent ends.
2. Responsibility
Authority is also accompanied by responsibility or accountability.
Authority is responsible to those who authorized it to function on their
behalf. Those exercising authority perform certain functions for the
welfare of those over whom power is exercised.
3. Hierarchy
Authority is always exercised in a hierarchical manner. It flows from top
to bottom.
Authority is invested in a person or a body exercising power of command,
having superior power. The subordinate obey the rules and regulations
framed by the superior. It implies that superior authority has the right to
receive obedience. The person or the body to whom authority is invested,
exercise dominance over the subordinates.
4. Based on impersonal rules
Authority is based on the established rules and regulations. A person
exercises his authority not on his personal whims but in accordance with
the existing rules.
SOURCES AND KINDS OR TYPES OF AUTHORITY
Max Weber identified three sources of authority and correspondingly three
kinds of authority;
1. TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY – Traditional authority, that is, the right to
rule emerging from a continuous exercise of political power. This authority
derives its legitimacy from the traditions. Customs and usages of the
society. Obedience is due to respect for traditional practices. According to
Max Weber, obligation is a matter of accustomed obligations. A king’s
authority belongs to this category. Authority from this point of view is
legitimate if sanctioned by tradition.
However, this kind of authority cannot survive in modern societies where
traditions are losing its hold.
2. CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY – The source of this authority is the
individual himself. When the people submit themselves to be ruled by a
man mainly because of his extraordinary quality, that rule over them is
referred to as ‘charismatic authority’. The legitimacy of rule rests upon
the belief in the magical powers, and hero worship and revelations.Max
Weber says, “It is the charismatically qualified leader as such who is
obeyed by virtue of personal trust in him and his revelation, his heroism or
his exemplary qualities so far as they fall within the scope of the
individuals’ belief in his charisma”. People obey such authority because
they believe that the leader is endowed with supernatural or extraordinary
qualities. However, max Weber also says that this authority is not stable
as personality changes with the passage of time.
 3. LEGAL- RATIONAL AUTHORITY – Legal-rational authority is
anchored in impersonal rules that have come to characterize social
relations in modern societies. The basis and source of legal rational
authority is law. Max Weber writes, “It extends to the person exercising
the authority of office under it only by virtue of the formal legality of their
commands and only within the scope of authority of the office”. A person
derives his authority by occupying a position recognised by law. The rights
and duties of such a position is guided by the prescribed rules. According
to Max Weber, this is the only kind of authority that can survive in modern
society. Legal authority is that which frames and subordinates obey them.
In legal authority the legitimacy of the power-holder to issue commands
rests upon rules that are rationally established by enactment, by
agreement, or by imposition. Political authority is obtained with the people
giving voluntarily their consent.
Difference between Power and Authority
Authority differs from power in the following ways:-
1. Nature
 Authority is the formal right given to a person to make decisions or to
command.
 Power is the personal ability to influence others or events.
2. Flow
 Authority flows downwards in the organization. This is because it is
delegated by the superiors to the subordinates.
 Power can flow in any direction. Even subordinates have power over their
superiors, if they can influence their behavior. So power can flow upwards,
downwards or horizontally.
3. Level of Management
 Authority depends on the level of management. Higher the level of
management, higher will be the authority and vice-versa.
 Power does not depend on the level of management. Power can exist at
any level of management. Even a lower-level manager or a worker can
have power to influence the behavior of a top-level manager.
4. Legitimacy
 Authority is always official in nature. So it is legitimate.
 Power need not be official in nature. So it need not be legitimate.
5. Position and Person
 Authority is given to a position or post. The manager gets the authority
only when he holds that position.
Power resides (lives) in the person who uses it.

Legitimacy
The term legitimacy has been derived from the Latin word ‘legitimus’
meaning lawful or according to law. It normally stands for something
 authorized to do an action which does not violate the laws. Legitimacy is a
belief, held by individuals, about the rightfulness of a rule or ruler. It is
commonly defined in political science as the belief that a rule, institution,
or leader has the right to govern. It is a judgment and a belief, held by
individuals about the rightfulness of a ruler. Legitimacy is the foundation
of political power in as much as it is exercised both with a consciousness
on the government’s part that it has a right to govern and with some
recognition by the governed of that right. Legitimacy applies to the cases
where the set- up and use of political authority is in accordance with the
established and accepted procedures and rules in a society. Legitimacy
clears whether decisions are being made by the right kind of people i.e.,
by the people who, according to rules, should be making the decisions,
and whether the decisions are being made in accordance with the rules of
the particular society.Thus,Legitimacy is understood as the popular
acceptance and recognition by the public of the authority of a governing
régime, whereby authority has political power through consent and
mutual understandings, not coercion. We may thus conclude that
legitimacy means the capacity to produce and maintain a belief that the
existing political system is most suitable to the society. The masses must
obey it unreluctantly and accept its sanctity and consider it worthy of
respect and reverence.

DEFINITIONS
1. Lipset – “Legitimacy includes the capacity to produce and maintain a
belief that the existing political institutions or forms are the most
appropriate for the society.”
2. Blondel – “It is an external extent to which the population accepts the
organization without questioning it, the organisation to which it
belongs.”.”
3. Dahl ” Legitimacy is the quality of Rightness, propriety or moral
goodness.”
4. J.C. Pleno and R.E. Riggs define legitimacy as “the quality of being
justified or willingly accepted by subordinates that convert the exercise
of political power into rightful authority.”

Sources of Legitimacy:
According to Max Weber, there are three sources of legitimacy:
(i) Tradition:
Legitimacy may rest on an established belief in the sanction of
immemorial traditions and on the need to obey leaders who exercise the
authority according to the traditions.
(ii) Exceptional Personal Qualities:
Legitimacy may secondly be based on “devotion to the specific and
exceptional sanctity, or exemplary character of an individual person.”
(iii) Legality:
Legitimacy may rest on the belief that power is wielded in a way that is
legal. What is done legally is regarded as legitimate.

Types of Legitimacy:
 David Easton describes three types of legitimacy as under:
(a) Ideological legitimacy:
When the source of legitimacy is the ideology prevailing in the society, it
is termed as ideological legitimacy. A political system is in fact an
articulated set of ideals, ends and purposes which help the members to
interpret the past, explain the present and provide a vision for the future.
The ideology portrays the aims and states the objectives of the political
system. These aims and objectives have the potential as they constitute a
set of ethically infused ideals to capture the imagination of the people.
They inspire men to action as they are related to their success.
(b) Structural legitimacy:
The principles which lead the members in a particular system to accept as
legitimate, contribute to the validation of structures and norms of the
regime. Every system has set goals according to which authority is
exercised and political power is wielded. This basis of validation is termed
as structural legitimacy.

(c) Personal legitimacy:

If the behaviour and personality of those at the help of affairs is of
dominating importance and if the members consider these authorities as
trust-worthy this is known as personal legitimacy..
The three types of political legitimacy described by Max Weber
are traditional, charismatic, and rational-legal:
1. Traditional legitimacy derives from societal custom and habit that
emphasize the history of the authority of tradition. Traditionalists
understand this form of rule as historically accepted, hence its continuity,
because it is the way society has always been. Therefore, the institutions
of traditional government usually are historically continuous, as in
monarchy and tribalism.
2. Charismatic legitimacy derives from the ideas and personal charisma
of the leader, a person whose authoritative persona charms and
psychologically dominates the people of the society to agreement with the
government's régime and rule.
3.Rational-legal legitimacy derives from a system of institutional
procedure, wherein government institutions establish and enforce law
and order in the public interest.Therefore, it is through public trust that the
government will abide the law that confers rational-legal legitimacy.
Fredrich classifies legitimacy into;
i) religious legitimacy – has its concept from the time of ancient
empire, when the king was considered as the son of god. For eg
divine origin theory of state.
ii) philosophical legitimacy – is based on the reasoning power of a
ruler,
iii) procedural legitimacy – is based on election by which people
elect their representatives according to the procedures laid down by
the constitution. Here the majority is given priority, also called
democratic legitimacy.
iv) pragmatic legitimacy – depends on the performance of duties like
maintenance of law, success in war, economic progress etc.