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POWER & AUTHORITY

            The concept of Power is described and studied in many social sciences and as it's applied in many forms, it has given rise to several explanations. A common explanation is - "It's the ability to influence or control others to conduct in ways that they would other wise not choose to do so." .
             Personal power is the ability to employ ones own individual characteristics e.g. physical strength or charms to influence and control others.
             An individual can gain personal power by:-.
             - Having a strong will and attitude. A firm belief in oneself and principles.
             - The possession of money and wealth.
             - A good education. .
             - Good fortune and to some extent good looks.
             The extent of an individual's power would vary as they may possess all or some of the above mentioned conditions. The more qualities they have the more likely they are to be influential and powerful.
             Groups are formed when different individuals unite having one common goal or belief. They are usually referred to as pressure (interest) groups which campaign for a particular cause. Such collectives stand a better chance of achieving their goals as strength lies in numbers. .
             Groups attempt to gain power so that they may defend their own interests, such as trade unions or the CBI (Confederation of British Industry. Another reason why groups attempt to gain power is to promote new initiatives which they argue will benefit society E.g. Greenpeace campaigners. .
             These pressure groups influence decision makers and gain power by:-.
             - Lobbying.
             This involves sending representatives to see whoever is in authority and the representatives try to persuade them to their ideas. It is supported by leaflets, letters and documents.
             - Retaining the service of those in authority.
             Pressure groups sponsor candidates to take up key authoritative positions eg become cabinet ministers. They then in turn would represent and support the pressure groups.
             - Publicity.
             The groups believe the best way of gaining attention I to attract attention.


Essays Related to POWER & AUTHORITY

1. Power and Domination to Rule Others

... , it extends to individuals in so far as they occupy a specifically legitimized status or role in a group. Even in that particular role, the individual can exert only a limited type of authority over another; that power which is allocated specifically to the role itself. Outside this status the individual is treated as 'private individual', with no more ... once in force but had fallen into disuse and only now are brought back to their rightful position of authority. The body of concrete rules require no other justification than that they have always been there. In traditional autho...

  • Word Count: 1511
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. Concepts of Power and Authority

... were better than their students, since they had gone to college and the students obviously have not yet. In these experiments, authority figures took over and used their power for malicious purposes. The Stanford Experiment was an exercise to see how people would react if they were sent to prison. In ... only six days of being in the "prison." The Stanford Experiment was supposed to last a total of two weeks, but he head authority figures got hooked into the experiment. If it was not for the supervisors stopping it early, it would have possibly went on for longer than ... shocked, they ...

  • Word Count: 1965
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. The Power of King Lear

... political right: military force. At the beginning of the play, as a result of Lear's peaceful reign and his unquestioned authority, his regime has lost touch with political reality and he himself thinks that he can maintain control even while turning military power over to his children. Act 5 takes us back to the brute facts of political life and reminds us that in ... in Literature and Politics, edited by Joseph Alulis and Vickie Sullivan, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1996, pp. 189-207. Power is the ability to manipulate and control whatever one desires; to do what one please...

  • Word Count: 8939
  • Approx Pages: 36
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Royal Authority in the Age of Absolutism

... Western Past on page 38. Absolutism is defined as by www.dictionary.com as "A political theory holding that all power should be vested in one ruler or other authority". That means that one person, as in the King, has all or absolute power over something and in this application, it applies to the 17th century European countries. Absolutism is based from the ideas ... that the country is spilt up into many provinces with different customs and dialects. In The Six Books of the Republic, Jean Bodin's theoretical basis for absolute royal authority is given. Jean believes that power is decide...

  • Word Count: 681
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Tartuffe and authority

... hypocrisy to manipulate Organ. Organ, however, has no idea that Tartuffe is faking his whole personality. Organ, who is in charge of the household, holds the power of authority throughout the whole play. Moliere uses this as a bad example of authority because Organ, who is supposed to be smart and wise, actually falls for Tartuffe's falseness. If someone who holds a great amount of ... with Tartuffe; Mariane is in love with another man, Valere. So now everything is going to work out for Mariane thanks to the power of good authority represented by the King. Moliere shows that good author...

  • Word Count: 1142
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Power as Poison in The Crucible

... the ability to twist people into ugly and inhumane creatures. One person holding too much power is a scary reality, especially when they are influenced by strong emotions like greed or jealousy. And an even scarier reality is when people give into spiteful authority and accept it silently. This can be seen taking place in the highly acclaimed play, The Crucible, which is ... , and enemies come together against friends. The true consequences of abusing one's authorities and the corruption of power come to life. For instance, abusing one's power and authority for their own personal greed m...

  • Word Count: 987
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Power and Prestige by Gerhard Lenski

... have been answered" (Kerbo, 2003, p.76). In the American class system divisions are based upon three main criteria: a person's position in the occupational structure, a person's position in the authority structure, and a person's ownership of property. A class breakdown provides recognition that United States is a bureaucratized industrial society as well as a capitalistic industrial society. This means that people are ... families with significant ownership in major corporations who tend to marry and socialize within their own group. The corporate class designates those with high author...

  • Word Count: 1478
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Whoever Holds the Power Tries to Own the Truth

... invested seeks personal or financial gain, retribution or fame; while the victims ultimately suffer from loss, misinformation, misrepresentation, or even death. Power, arising from delegated authority, usually controls the truth via suppression. In Frontline the executive producer, Brian, exercises his delegated authority to control the release of truth to viewers. In the episode "Smaller Fish to Fry" Mike Moore has discovered a "massive [bank ... Proctor had an affair, as evidenced by her reply to the judge's question "Is your husband a lecher?" being "No, sir". The court's judges poss...

  • Word Count: 1380
  • Approx Pages: 6

9. Controlling and Manipulating Power

In George Orwell's 1984, the Party of the totalitarian country Oceania, which deceives the people through tricks and lies in order to maintain its power. It reveals how an authority utilize technology, propaganda, centralized power and force to control people's behaviors and thoughts. Since Winston, the hope of rebellion also surrendered to the Party in the end, the story alarms the society ... population for government. Only Inner Party have abundant knowledge of knowing the truth, and they also hold the power, while Outer Party's duty is just to keep the society in shape as workers, as how ...

  • Word Count: 1431
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography

10. Power Perspectives

... which lead them to prosper; therefore, attaining an authoritative position. They use status symbols to identify their power. Parents are symbols of power. They exercise the authority over their children. They have the power to discipline their children, choose schools, religion and morality. This is a type pf traditional authority which is based on custom (Henslin 2002, p. 275). The goals of people constantly change over time ... the dominant group fells their idea is right, they must do something out of the ordinary to get attention. People who have authority try to enforce conformity, w...

  • Word Count: 1290
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

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