On Authority and its Relationship to Power

Abstract

This paper suggests an alternative to the received view of the relationship between power and authority. It regards authorities as the passive agents of powers. Thus to possess authority is to possess less than to possess power in its own right. Contrast this with the received view where to possess authority is to possess more than to possess power: authority may be power plus legitimacy, or power plus consent. The paper goes on to consider some of the implications of this alternative view, and shows how it allows an analogy between possessing authority in relation to actions and being an authority in relation to knowledge and culture.