Topic: Power, Authority & Legitimacy
Comment on the Tools of legitimation of the State.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 Legitimacy transforms naked power into rightful authority → obedience from duty, not fearRoute 2 Rousseau: turn strength into right, obedience into…
Comment on the Bases of Power.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 Bases = what power-holders control to shape behaviour → power is more than forceRoute 2 Bases run visible → near-invisible →…
Comment on Foucault’s concept of power.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 Dominant view = sovereign, top-down, repressive → Foucault overturns itRoute 2 Foucault’s core claim = power dispersed, productive, capillary → “comes…
Write on the Linkage between Power and Hegemony.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 Power not only coercion → also works through consent → that consensual face is hegemonyRoute 2 Dahl’s overt “power over” →…
Legitimacy adds positive value to political authority and obligation. Discuss.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 Legitimacy = rightfulness → transforms naked power into rightful authority → this transformation is the positive value (to authority + obligation)Route…
Explain Macpherson’s view on power.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 Power located in liberalism’s own foundations, not command over others → possessive individualism as starting pointRoute 2 Individual as self-owner →…
Do you think that legitimacy acquired by consent or manufactured by indoctrination is an essential element in maintenance of political rule? Justify your answer with relevant examples.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 Legitimacy = rightfulness → turns naked power into authority → force alone never lasts (Rousseau: obedience must rest on duty, not…
Explain the relationship between power, authority and legitimacy.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 Three not separate but one continuum → Authority = Power + LegitimacyRoute 2 Power = the fact of acting → authority…
Examine the nature and meaning of power.
Flow snapshot — how the answer movesIntro routesRoute 1 Power = central concept of politics (“money of economics”) → meaning settled, nature contestedRoute 2 Lasswell: shaping & sharing of power…
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