UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION,WINNEBA

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

EDUCATION
COURSE CODE :POLI 111
COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO THE
STUDY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
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 Topic 3: The Concepts of power, Influence, Authority,
Legitimacy and Sovereignty
Discussion Points
• Meaning of the concepts
• Sources, types and features of the concepts
• Limitations of the concepts
Learning Objectives:
• To introduce students to the basic concepts in politics
• To help students to identify the interrelationships among the
concepts.
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 What is a concept?

• What is a concept? It is an abstract idea or thought about something

which is expressed in a word or phrase. It is a name or label that treats
an abstraction as if it had material existence eg. Death
• Concepts in political science are understood to be the fundamental
building blocks of thoughts and beliefs in politics
• Therefore a good understanding of the key concepts in politics will
help students not only to understand political issues but also to
analyze them better.

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 Power as a concept
Introduction:
• Politics is all about power and that explains why political theorists such
Plato, Aristotle and Hobbes have all depicted the concept as pivot around
which all political activities revolve.
• Without doubt students of Political Science are students of power. Thus they
seek to know who has it, how it is used and on what basis is it exercised?
• For Foucault (1969) power relationships are present in all aspects of society
Power as a political concept
• Like many social science concepts, power is one of the contested terms in
political science
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 How power is understood
• It is the ability to achieve a desired outcome sometimes referred to as
power to
• It is also thought of as a relationship : as the exercise of control by one
person over another referred to as power over
• It can again mean the capacity to make formal decisions which are in
some way binding upon others.
What then is power?
• Power is the capacity to influence or control the behaviour of persons
and institution whether by persuasion or coercion (Magstadt, 2013)

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 Meaning of power
• It is the capacity of an individual or group to influence another
to act in such a manner which the individual or the group
desires (Brako & Asah-Asante, 2018)
• In practice, a perfectly acceptable definition of power that can
encompass all its various manifestations is: if A gets B to do
something A wants but which B would not have chosen to do,
then power is being exercised (Heywood, 2004:122)
• Therefore in simple term, power is the ability to get someone
or people to do what they would not have otherwise done.
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 Examples of power &political power
• Power can exist in various forms which may include: Spiritual/
magical power, women power, man power etc. However, political
scientists are interested in Political power
• Political power is the kind of power which is exercised in a political
community, and it is the ability of a person or institution to
influence the behaviour of people and to control policy decisions.
• The power of every state enables her to make and enforce laws,
provide security, wage war, regulate the economy, exact taxes on
the citizens. NB. Power should not only be equated to force.
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 Types/forms of power
• Power can exist in a tangible and measurable ways. This type of power
is known as Hard Power which represents the means and instruments
of brute force or coercion eg. Military and economic clout.
• It can also be viewed as an intangible concept which is known as Soft
power. Soft power is attractive rather than coercive. The essence of
soft power is the “important ability to get others to want what you
want” (Magstadt, 2013:4)
• It can also manifest in various forms to bring about compliance. The
four major power forms include: force, manipulation, authority and
persuasion
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 Characteristics of power
Some of the unique features associated with power include:
• For power to manifest there should be two parties , the one who
exercise the power(subject) and the one over whom the power is
exercised (victim)
• There is goal attainment feature : power is always exercised with the
view of attaining a specific goal
• Power has an influence feature: it influences/ induces the behavior of
the one whom it is exercised upon (Brako &Asah-Asante, 2018)
• Power has the capacity to cause or prevent an action and can also make
things happen if it is used.
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 Sources of power
The means by which people can obtain and exercise power include:
• Legitimate power: It is also called positional power. it emanates
from the official position held by someone in government/
organization. It is strictly defined by the position held and it is
time bound.
• Coercive power: It is the application of negative influences. it is
usually exercised by a state to gain compliance. It is a kind of
power which involves the usage of threat to make people do
what one desires.
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 Sources of power
• Experts power: this is a personal kind of power one exercises due to the
skills and expertise one has in something. This is where the person exercises
power of knowledge to influence people. Closely related is informational
power ie. use of informational resources.
• Reward power: People can obtain and exercise such power through the
provision of rewards, perks, training opportunities as means to influence
people.
• Referent power: It is the ability of an individual to attract and build loyalty.
This is the power wielded by celebrities and movie stars. Their activities
earned them huge following and they identify with them. Hence they exert
lasting influence on a large number of people.
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 How power is exercised
• There are different ways in which power can be exercised at
both domestic and international politics. Among the ways are:
• Persuasion: Here the subject discusses a proposal with a victim
with a view to convince him of the usefulness of his viewpoint.
In this approach the response of the victim may either be
favourable or opposed to the subject’s proposal.
• Use of force: with this approach the subject applies force to
coerce the victim to act in a way that satisfies the wishes of the
subject
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 How power is exercised .
• The threat of punishment : the one who exercises the power threatens to
inflict some harm on the victim by using tools like imprisonment, sabotage
or violent attack if the victim fails to do the wishes of the subject
• The offer of reward: the subject promises to reward the victim if he
complies with the demands made on him. Here the reward is used to
entice the victim to do the wishes of the subject. Rewards may include
cash reward, political appointment or a contract
• The infliction of non-violent sanctions: the subject may also decide to use
a non-violent sanction like economic blockade to compel the victim to act
in a manner that will satisfy him.

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 Influence
• It refers to the exercise of power through the process of persuasion
• Again, it is the ability to affect decisions and actions of others
• It is also the ability to convince a decision maker to reach a certain
decision (Brako & Asah-Asante, 2018)
• Jackson &Jackson (2003), influence is the ability to persuade or
convince others to act in a way that will satisfy the subject
• Influence shapes the behaviour of people but unlike power, it
carries no sanctions
• It can exist in the form of persuasion, inducement, manipulation
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 AUTHORITY AS A POLITICAL CONCEPT
Generally, the use of power is the business of all governments. However, the
question of what causes people to regard the state’s rule as legitimate is through
authority
 Authority is the power that people perceive as legitimate when it is being
exercised
 Etymologically, authority as a concept is originated from the Latin word
“auctoritas” which means approval or agreement
 It implies that the rulers of various states must have the right to exercise power
and influence on the ruled. It is also the recognized rights of an individual to
exercise power
 Political authority is that authority whose power is derived from state powers

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 WHAT IS AUTHORITY?
• Authority is the command of the obedience of society’s members by a
government (Magstadt, 2013:4)
• Max Weber (1922) defined authority as occurring when there is a
probability that people will obey a specific command
• It also refers to power that has been institutionalized and is
recognized by the people over whom it is exercised (Schaefer and
Lamm, 1992)
• In short, it refers to accepted power, that is the kind of power that
people agree to follow. Hence it is a form of legitimate power and the
right to exercise power over people.
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 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AUTHOTY & INFLUENCE
• Authority is an official right to make and enforce decisions whereas
influence is the ability to affect the actions of others apart from
authority to do so
• Authority stems from rank but influence rests largely on personal
attributes
• Authority is based on the status one holds whereas influence is based
on the esteem one receives
• Example an admired police officer can have both authority and
influence but an unpopular police officer has authority but little
influence
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DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AUTHORITY & POWER
• Generally, authority is a form of power, it is a means through
which one can influence the behaviour of another, they differ by
means through which compliance or obedience is achieved
• Whereas power is the ability to influence the behaviour of
another, authority is the right to do so.
• Power brings about compliance through persuasion, pressure,
threats, violence or coercion but authority is based on a perceived
right to rule and brings about compliance through a moral
obligation on the part of the ruled to obey (Heywood, 2004:130)
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DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AUTHORITY & POWER
• Power is simply decision-making whereas authority is the right to
make decision , that is legitimate power
• People give to the ruler the authority to rule and they obey willingly
without the threat of force but power gives the capacity to impose
one’s will over another by reliance on effective sanctions in case of
non-compliance
• Power can be legitimate or illegitimate : legitimate power is the
power people accept as right and it is called authority whereas
illegitimate power which is known as coercion is the power that
people do not accept as right.
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 Types OF AUTHORITY
• According to Max Weber, the right of leaders to rule may comes from
three main sources and based on this idea he identified and explained
three distinct types of authority
• Traditional Authority: Legitimized by long-standing customs and
traditions, here the ruler typically has no real force to carry out his will
or maintain position but depends on a groups respect. Eg. Queen
Elisabeth of United Kingdom. According to Weber this type of
authority rests on an established belief in the sanctity of immemorial
traditions. Over a period of time people come to accept the political
reality because they have been there for prolonged period
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 Types OF AUTHORITY
• Legal-Rational Authority: this type of legitimacy is rooted in the belief in the legality
of rules. Its authority is drawn from the constitution of the land. It is the type of
legitimacy which is most prominent in democracies which establish rigorous rules for
determining who has the right to issue governmental commands. Here the authority
resides in the office not the person. Eg. The president of Ghana enjoys this type of
authority
• Charismatic Authority: in the view of Weber it is the most unstable form of
legitimacy. The legitimacy is attached to a certain uniquely magnetic or inspiring
leader and rests on the devotion of the followers. In this case, the leader is
perceived by others as “set apart from ordinary men. It is therefore based on the
personal qualities of the leader. Eg. Martin Luther King Jnr. Jesus, Prophet
Mohammed, Fidel Castro in Cuba etc. ( Klesner, 2014: 46-7
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 LEGITIMACY
• Legitimacy is usually defined simply as “rightfulness” It is the quality that
transforms naked power into rightful authority. It is originated from a
Latin word legitimare meaning to declare lawful (Heywood, 2007)
• It confers upon an order or command an authoritative or binding
character, ensuring that it is obeyed out of duty rather than because of
fear ( Heywood, 2004: 141)
• Legitimacy is a value whereby people recognize and accept something or
someone as right and proper
• A legitimate institution or person is widely accepted and recognize by the
public
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 LEGITIMACY
• It refers to the right of the people in government to exercise
authority and the recognition accorded them by the governed
(Brako & Asah-Asante, 2018:65)
• In the opinion of Max Weber, legitimacy refers to nothing more or
less than the belief in the right to rule (Heywood, 2004 :142)
• Legitimacy is so important that without it government can only be
sustained by fear, intimidation and violence (Heywood 2004:142)
• However, where there is legitimacy, people obey law even when
the threat of punishment is slight.
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 Differences between authority & legitimacy
• While authority is the right to exercise power, legitimacy goes
beyond the right to exercise power to include the recognition or
acceptability of the people over whom that right is exercised.
• Whereas people are said to have power and authority, it is the
political systems that are described as legitimate
• Legitimacy focuses on the lawful nature of the authority being
exercised and it thrives on the consent of the people.
• Legitimate authority is therefore occurs when people obey the
authority because they regard it as obligatory.
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 SOVEREIGNTY
• The word sovereignty is derived from the Latin word superanus and it
means supremacy
• It is the exclusive legal authority of a government over its population
and territory, independent of external authorities
• In other words, a state is sovereign to the extent that it monopolizes
the exercise of governmental authority at home, rejecting the right of
foreign states to interfere in its domestic political order (Klesner, 2014:
45)
• It can also be explained as the supreme power of a state unrestrained
by any other power (Hague &Harrop, 2010)
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 History of the development of sovereignty
• The term sovereignty though is a modern concept created after the signing
of the Westphalia treaty yet the idea goes back to Aristotle who spoke of the
supremacy of the state.
• However, the use of the term sovereignty in political science dates back to
the French philosopher Jean Bodin’s publication titled ‘Six Books of a
Commonwealth’ in 1576.
• He argued that sovereignty refers to the state’s authority regardless of its
form of government. (Be it monarchy, democracy or dictatorship.
• He defined sovereignty as the supreme power of the state over citizens and
subjects unrestrained by law. It can be vested in a King, some elite group or
corporate citizenry.
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 History of the Development of sovereignty
• According to Bodin, whatever the form of sovereignty it is
distinguished by three attributes : it is absolute, perpetual and
indivisible
• He believed that for the sovereign to govern well he must be
above the law and the principal mark of the sovereign was the
right to impose laws on all subjects, their consent notwithstanding
• Other notable political scientists who contributed to the
development of the concept included Thomas Hobbes, John Locke
and Jean- Jacques Rousseau among others.
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 HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOVEREIGNTY
Thomas Hobbes
• He also contributed to the concept in his book Leviathan published in
1651. He insisted that sovereignty might be one man or assembly but
the power of the sovereign remained the same in whomever it
resides. He argued that sovereign power is absolute and cannot be
shared, though it can be delegated. He believed that because the
fundamental law of nature was self-preservation, human beings were
inherently disorderly, selfish and were generally in conflict with one
another. Thus, only a strong and powerful ruler (sovereign) can put
these tendencies of the “war of all against all in check.
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 HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOVEREIGNTY
• John Locke and J. J. Rousseau
• They redefined sovereignty in term of people rather than one single
ruler. They contended that the ultimate power in any state rested with
the people. Locke in his essay on civil government wrote that the
supreme power in the state lay with the people. According to him “the
power of the state is limited, not absolute because it derives power
from the people and it holds power in trust for the people.
• Rousseau on his part insisted that whenever the ruler violated the
trust of the people, the people had the right not to obey the sovereign
and even to overthrow his government.
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 CHARACTERISTICS OF SOVEREIGNTY
• Permanence/ Perpetual: Sovereignty lasts as long as an independent state
lasts. The death of president or an overthrow of government does not lead to
the destruction of sovereignty.
• Exclusiveness: there cannot exist another sovereign state within the existing
sovereign state
• Indivisibility : this is the blood of sovereignty. Sovereignty cannot be divided.
It is an entire thing therefore to divide it is to destroy it. Sovereignty must
therefore be total
• Absoluteness: it is absolute and unlimited. The sovereign is entitled to do
whatever he likes, sovereignty is subject to none. It means also that the
sovereign power of the state is without any restriction
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 CHARACTERISTICS OF SOVEREIGNTY
• Inalienability: this means that the power of the sovereign cannot be
transferred. Sovereignty is the life and soul of the state and it cannot
be alienated without destroying the state.
• Unlimited : it is the supreme and unrivalled power of the state, and
therefore cannot be limited by any other law within its sphere of
jurisdiction
• Originality: by originality we mean that the sovereign wields power by
virtue of its own right and not by virtue of anybody’s mercy
• Determinate : sovereignty is determinable in the sense that the one
who exercise it can easily be identified or located
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 TYPES OF SOVEREIGNTY
• LEGAL SOVEREIGNTY: It is based on the belief that the ultimate and final authority
resides in the law of the state. This is de jure sovereignty, supreme power is defined
in terms of legal authority. The body that makes laws and enforce them in the state
is the legal sovereign. A law made by such a sovereign is binding on all concerned
people. In sum, the legal sovereignty refers to all the legally established political
institution necessary for the smooth administration of the state (Heywood, 2004:91)
• POLITICAL OR POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY: this sovereignty is said to rest with the
people in whom the power of the state resides. In this sense, the electorate
constitute the political sovereign. By voting, the electorate delegates to the arms of
government the decision-making powers. The electorate remains the ultimate
power in a state and have the right to renew the powers given the government
periodically
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 Forms/ASPECTS/ categories of sovereignty
• INTERNAL SOVEREIGNTY: this refers to the a state’s supreme power
to make and enforce whatever laws it sees fit for its internal affairs.
With regards to internal sovereignty wide variations exist among
state as the location and scope of sovereign power. Sovereignty may
be vested in a Monarch, a Parliament or National Assembly.
• EXTERNAL SOVEREIGNTY: this means that the state is subject to no
other authority and is independent of any compulsion on the part of
other states. Any other state does not reserve the right to interfere
with the internal matters of an independent state

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 LOCATION OF SOVEREIGNTY
• Whereas Jean Bodin believed sovereign authority must reside in one person or a
body of persons from whom laws emanate, John Locke was of the view that it
emanates from the people who delegate it to the rulers to exercise on their behalf.
• Others believe that the constitution of the state is the fundamental law of the land
by which the state is governed, therefore it is the seat of the sovereign power of the
state.
• It is also believed that the seat of sovereignty is located within the executive
because it is the head of state who signs into law, bills enacted by parliament.
• Another school of thought believes sovereignty is said to reside in the Judiciary
because it has the right to declare the actions of the other organs of government as
null and void.

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 LIMITATIONS OF SOVEREIGNTY
• Constitutional supremacy is one of the limitations of the state sovereignty hence it is
not unlimited
• The influence of powerful nations on small nations is yet another limitations on
state sovereignty. This calls into question the independence of such states.
• Sovereign power of the state is limited by the fundamental human rights of the
people which are entrenched in the constitution of most states
• The participation of the people in governance can serve as a limitation when it
comes to the exercise of the sovereign power of the state. They can make and
unmake governments.
• Membership of International Organizations such as United Nations Organization
places a limitation on sovereign states

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