SAP - Sovereignty, Authority, and Power Module Overview

Sovereignty, Authority, and Power  

Introduction

Where is the power center of a country? Please complete the following Ultimate Authority Activity as an introduction to this module. 

The idea of power is essential to understanding politics. The political scientist will ask questions such as, "Who has power?" and "Who has authority to rule?" Comparative Politics looks at power within states or countries; those that have legal authority over the population and territory and in essence are exercising sovereignty. The states or countries that are unable to answer the question of who has the power to rule are said to lack legitimacy, or the right to rule. With legitimacy, a state or country must also have the appropriate degree of autonomy, which allows governments to govern effectively while being held accountable to the population. Sovereignty is a concept born with the rise of the modern state system in seventeenth and eighteenth-century Europe. The officials of most national governments will strongly defend their state's sovereignty when they feel it is being challenged. Legitimacy and autonomy are the foundations of a stable sovereign state, the absence of, or the unbalanced mix of such, renders the state unstable because it is no longer independent and has little or no ability to govern its territory. Still, how does the idea of the modern state continue when countries voluntarily give up some of their sovereignty? The formation of supranational governments, such as the European Union or the Economic Community of West African States, presents new challenges to the altering concepts of sovereignty, authority, and power.

Module Lessons Preview

In this module, we will study the following topics:

Political Authority: In this lesson, we will take a close look at political power. We will define the term, examine its elements, and learn about several theories that help determine who gets to use political power.

Sources of Power: This lesson will focus on ways in which governments draw and keep their power. Different forms of democratic governments will be discussed and contrasted with authoritarian regimes.

Legitimacy, Governance, and Accountability: For a country, legitimacy answers the question, who has political power? Legitimacy is the right to rule, as determined by citizens. This lesson will explore the sources of legitimacy and evaluate how the six core nations are able (or not able) to achieve it.

Module Key Terms

  • Authority - the power of a political figure to be obeyed
  • Power - political power, is the ability to make and carry out decisions
  • Legitimacy - a belief by powerful groups and the broad citizenry that a state exercises rightful authority
  • Political Culture - values and attitudes of citizens in regard to politics and society
  • Parochial cultures - low awareness, expectations, and participation
  • Subject culture - higher levels of awareness and expectation, but low participation
  • Participant culture - high level of awareness, expectation, and participation
  • Political Socialization - the learning of political values and factual assumptions about politics
  • Supranational governance - those who have been given some sovereignty because nations have shifted their powers upwards to them
  • Traditional authority - some people accept the power and rule of others because there is a long standing tradition of things being like that
  • Charismatic authority - People consent to be ruled by people with special human qualities. Such qualities inspire loyalty and obedience.
  • Legal rational authority - In modern societies, authority is made legitimate by the acceptance of an established set of sensible rules, laws, and procedures by the majority of the population.
  • Legitimacy by results - providing the basic needs of the people such as security, welfare, and respect for human rights
  • Legitimacy by habit - People, through time, become accustomed to obeying the laws of the government.
  • Legitimacy by historical, religious, ethnic identity - Legitimacy may come from various historical, religious, or ethnic sources (emotional ties).
  • Legitimacy by procedures - Procedures can also promote and provide legitimacy. (Democratic elections)
  • Legitimacy by fear - fearing undesired alternatives can enhance the government's legitimacy.
  • Legitimacy by belief systems - Sources of legitimacy, such as ideology are a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions.
  • Regimes - are the fundamental rules and norms of politics. Regimes embody the long-term goals about individual freedoms, where power should reside, and how it should be given.
  • Traditional economy - The work that people do, the goods and services they provide, how they use and exchange resources ... all tend to follow long-established patterns.
  • Command/Planned - The government controls the economy.
  • Market - Economic decisions are made by individuals.
  • Mixed - combines elements of the market and command economy
  • Co-optation- members of the public are brought into a beneficial relationship with the state and government.
  • Coercion- public obedience is enforced through violence and surveillance.
  • Personality Cult - the public is encouraged to obey the leader based on his or her extraordinary qualities and compelling ideas.
  • Clientelism - whereby the state co-opts members of the public by providing specific benefits or favors to a single person or small group in return for public support
  • Liberalism- places emphasis on individual political and economic freedom
  • Communism- generally values equality over freedom; all resources by the state that in turn will ensure that true economic equality exists for the community as a whole
  • Socialism- shares the value of equality with communism, but is also influenced by the liberal value of freedom
  • Fascism - also rejects the value of equality and accepts the idea that people and groups exist in degrees of inferiority and superiority
  • Religions -non secularized; religious leaders are also political leaders
  • Devolution - the process by which political power is devolved, or sent downward to lower levels of government
  • Supranational Governance -an organization with its own sovereign powers over member states
  • Integration - pooling sovereignty and surrendering some individual powers in order to gain political, economic, or societal benefits
  • Patrimonialism - The ruler depends on a collection of supporters with the state who gain direct benefits in return for enforcing the ruler's will.

 

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS OR OPENSOURCE