Power, Authority And Legitamacy Flashcards
How is legitimacy gained through elections?
Enables : through a political party gaining a majority within an election and the public’s consent
E.g : the conservatives won the 2019 general election with 365 seats
Not enabled : If an electoral system may not deliver a clear winner
E.g In the UK the con won the 2015 general election under David Cameron with only 36.9% of the vote due to the FPTP electoral system it still delivered them 51% of the seats
How is legitimacy gained through a leader?
Enables - through force of a leader trying to keep their people safe
E.g - volodynyrl Zelenskyy trying to keep Ukrainian people safe and through constant updates to the public and contact with world leader from Russia
Not enabled : when a leader uses violence creating instability
E.g Saddam Hussein was suspected of holding WOMD in Iraq although this was never proven
Max webers traditional authority
E - this is when the public should respect hesitate power and elders and when this authority is being passed to those next in line
e.g North Korea dynasty supreme leaders have been King II sung, his son kim jong- i and grandson Kim jong un
Re - irrelevant when the monarch no longer holds authority or right to rule as they may pass it on to someone else losing their authority
e.g the British royal family (monarchs) right to rule has been transferred to ministers.
A- this shows that in the abscene of both power and significant authority the monarch has become little more than a symbol of constitutional authority
Max Webers legal rational authority
E - this is authority through the respect for right of state and parliaments legal rights to pass new laws it can be gained through a party gaining a majority in an election
e.g in 2019 general election the conservatives won 365 seats, a majority
Re - irrelevant if a party then loses the next election. This means the party’s authority is lost as the public didn’t vote for them possibly because they didn’t like how they ruled the country
e.g The Labour Party where in power from 1997 to 2007 however they lost the 2010 election losing a total of 94 seats
Open face of power
PE - introduction of new laws through parliament, open face as bills are introduced publicly to fellow politicians and and can be tracked by the general public through the media
E - when the Lib Dem - Conservative coalition introduced the health and social care act after 1000 amendments
RE - also through elections, as the results of an election can be followed up by the public through the media and official UK parliament data meaning results are transparent to public
E - the conservatives won the 2019 general election with 365 seats
Non decision making face
PE - the power to se5 the agenda and decide what will and what will not be discussed, power behind closed doors do not include decisions of ordinarily people
E - during the 1980s Margaret Thatcher decided to keep Scottish devolution off their agenda as she strongly opposed it, however once Tony Blair was PM he immediately made it a key part of his agenda.
RE - can be challenged through public participitaion, if the public wants something on the agenda they have to make MPs aware of this through things like petitions and protests.
E - Sarah’s law was passed by Sarah’s mum which allowed parents to do background checks on adults around their children after Sara’s death, the petition got many signatures forcing it onto the agenda
Manipulation desires
PE - citizens being manipulated into believing the government are acting in their best interest often these citizens are unaware that their desires are being shaped by those in power
E - Blair and the WOMD he believed Iraq had to support starting a war no proof of this was found
PE - politicians are able to target people in different ways and ruin other politicians reputation through the use of social media
E - the Cambridge analytica, 216 presidential election targeted people’s emotions instead of informing them on facts about the campaign
20 mark layout
Para 1 - legal rational authority (relevant) + traditional authority less relevant ( link to dictatorships
Para 2 - power relevant through open decision making face + irrelevant through manipulation desires face
Para 3 - legitimacy relevant when gained by consent + irrelevant when a voting system doesn’t deliver a clear winner ( unrepresentative)
Power
Power is the power to get people in a state to do what you want to achieve a desired outcome
Authority
Means the acceptance which makes a leader or trough the ‘rightful’ owner of power - duty to obey
Legitimacy
Is the sense if rightfullness that a person or group are the rightful leader, and rightful to power
