The Power and Authority of the Government
Power can be seen as the capacity of a government to get its citizens
to comply with it. Power is quite broadly used and can even be seen as
obedience as this shows a deliberate self restraint of citizens that
might otherwise resist the government. It has a direct connection with
authority as authority carries the implication that the institution
that has power is supported in its decisions by a substantial amount
of people and therefore should be obeyed whether or not the individual
agrees with it. A government can have power, but it must be somewhat
representative to have authority.
The distinction between power and authority can be seen in our system
of checks and balance. Arguably, in this case, governments do need
both to succeed as shown in the balancing of the legislature and the
executive. The latter’s exercise of power is curtailed by the formers
authority as a sovereign. However, in practise, the executive power
usually gives it a certain authority due to its powers of the state.
We accept a liberal democracy because its powers are limited by a
constitution and it operates in a just way, if it does not do this its
authority is questionable and armed resistance can then be legitimate
or justifiable. For example, the Catholic minority viewed the police
as applying the law selectively, which would give the IRA legitimacy.
They could portray themselves as defenders or protectors of the
Catholic people, this is an example of negative power.
Power can be described as ‘concerning fact or actions’ whereas
authority is described as ‘concerning right’ (Goodwin). A government’s
authorit...
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...tract concepts that have a heavy dependence on the political
culture at the time and the stability of the government. Having power
itself generates authority in many cases or the image of authority,
which is often enough to operate under without experiencing a
backlash. The legitimacy of power comes from whether it is
representative of the majority wish and whether it adheres to the
contemporary situation, for instance, authority may be given for a
government to act more extremely when an event has allowed them to do
so. In this way, I think that although you can have power without
authority, this power will only be able to be exercised in the short
term, in the long term it is necessary to have authority to exercise
power, as this makes it legitimate and prevents an eventual uprising
or overthrowing of the government.
You little tyrant king george off with your head.Since the Americans had a bad experience with one person having too much power they made a constitution that guarded against tyranny by, dividing power, making the branches able to check or limit each other, and dividing power between big and little states.
After the American Revolution, America had earned it’s freedom from Britain. In order to govern this new country the Articles of Confederation was created. This document was flawed by the colonists fear of putting too much power into a central government. Knowing the document needed to be fixed a constitutional convention was called. The document created at this convention has been our constitution ever since. But even the Constitution was meet with criticism. One major concern when writing the constitution was how to protect the citizens rights. The Constitution did this through the preamble, the legislative process, the limit of presidential terms, the judicial branch, and the bill of rights.
The absence of a codified constitution raises numerous questions. The main one being,
The constitution guarded against tyranny using federalism. [Federalism is the system where the states and central government share power.] [Document A was written by James
The goal of the American government has always been the same through out the years. Although the government attempts to pursue common goals to improve the United States, citizens are not content due to them having to sacrifice individual values. US senate member, Chairman Michael McCaul, values order and equality by focusing on the security and the economy’s problems in the United States. When order and equality are implemented, individual freedom is given up. These values play important role in the way the government makes its laws in America. They have to take all these values into consideration due to the ever-enduring debate known as the, “Two Dilemmas of Government.”
Contrary to what I believed in the past, the United States federal government retained and expanded their power and authority during the years of the Civil war along with the period of Reconstruction. Through drafts and monitored elections, they exercised this power during the Civil War. Then, as Reconstruction began, they initiated other methods of increasing their authority over the citizens. Military was placed in Southern states, by the federal government, in order to keep control over the rebellious people. Not only that, but, the idea of putting the federal government in charge of Reconstruction and rebuilding an entire nation gave them an enormous amount of power. Finally, the creation of the 14th and 15th Amendment were two more big achievements on the part of the government.
People have their own perspective of a government that they envision for their people. Thomas Jefferson has been the president of the United States and ruled under a monarch. Jefferson couldn’t tolerate the abuse from a monarch, so he rebelled against the British crown. In 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote The Declaration of Independence, and declared the colonies were free from British rule. Before he became the author of The Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was established “ as an ardent republican and revolutionary” (Jacobus 77). Jacobus states Jefferson is, “one of the most versatile Americans of any generation” (Jacobus 78). In The Declaration of Independence, Jefferson and the founding fathers envisioned a government that would govern the people, and the people would be free. The people must be governed with rights, Jefferson implies it’s the government’s duty to guide and secure the people, therefore, he believes the government’s obligation to the individual is more important than the individuals obligation to the state.
Power is a difficult concept to identify; it has been defined in several ways by many scholars. Hinings et al. (1967) state that power is analogous to bureaucracy, while Bierstedt (1950) and Blau (1964) state that it is purely coercion (Stojkovic et al, 2008). Moreover, Hall and Tolbert (2005) identify that there are five types of power, reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert (Stojkovic et al, 2008). According to studies these five types of power are important and needed in a criminal justice agency for greater effectiveness and efficiency.
In conclusion, the Constitution, may protect us from tyranny in this way.
Integrating Faith and politics can be difficult. Arguments can be made for whether to have complete separation of faith and politics, or to fully integrate the two. A balanced middle-ground between separation and integration can be looked at also. Examples of each can be looked at in history. Complete separation of faith and politics has consequences (both positive and negative). Government that is separated from faith can be efficient, but very inhumane and controlling. Complete integration of faith and politics is influenced by God and the Bible, but it can be just as controlling as complete separation. Multiple disagreements in the Christian doctrine would also cause more challenges in the government. Having a middle ground where only some aspects of the government are influenced by religion can pose problems in certain areas. The middle ground could allow Christians to spread the Gospel (which is the goal of the church). When these three options are compared, one may see an option stand out as an obvious choice. The middle ground between separation and integration is where the church can both stay relevant in politics and participate in the great commission.
The constitution is our very best defense against tyranny. Tyranny is when one person or group of people is in total control. The constitution is a written set of rules that everyone has to live by. Our constitution was written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in May of 1787. How does the constitution guard against tyranny? It guards against tyranny with Federalism, the separation of powers, checks and balances, and with the Big State Little State Compromise.
The United States government is designed with checks and balances to ensure that no one branch can become more powerful than another. Though this may be the case, it is still possible that one branch of the our government can still be more powerful than the others. The equality of power in our government has constantly changed over the course of the life of the United States. Although these changes have occurred, we still have not made all of the branches equal and the inequality has been due to meet the demands of the time. For example, in 1938 our country was facing a depression and nothing was getting done. So, Roosevelt took it upon himself to give the Executive branch more power, to then in turn, help the country creep back out of the hole it had dug itself. After the country didn’t need the reform bills and the size of the government that Roosevelt had put it, things were then downsized and put into a more stable equilibrium. Though there were attempts to make everything equal, the Legislative Branch now holds the majority of the power, and is the most powerful branch that our government has.
The men who wrote the American constitution agreed with Thomas Hobbes that humans were naturally evil. Therefore, they agreed that in order to prevent a dictatorship or monarchy, the citizens should have influence in the government. The writers wanted a more ideal constitution, but they realized evil human motives would never change. One of the main goals of the constitution was to create a balanced government that would allow the citizens to prevent each other from being corrupt. The writers wanted to give citizens liberty, but they did not want to give people so much liberty that they would have an uncontrollable amount of power. The writers agreed that a citizen’s influence in government would be proportionate to that individual’s property.
Constitution is a necessary feature as it defines how power is disseminated within the government and establishes the rights of the citizens and the laws and rules for the country. In order to be successful, a country’s should reflect and satisfy every citizen’s needs and interests.
Power has been defined as the psychological relations over another to get them to do what you want them to do. We are exposed to forms of power from the time of birth. Our parents exercise power over us to behave in a way they deem appropriate. In school, teachers use their power to help us learn. When we enter the work world the power of our boss motivates us to perform and desire to move up the corporate ladder so that we too can intimidate someone with power one day. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Kurtz had a power over the jungle and its people that was inexplicable.