Sources — How is Power legalised?

A student council president elected by the whole college can call a meeting and expect it to be attended; a senior student who simply shouts the loudest cannot, however forceful he is. Something converts the first person's raw capacity to be obeyed into a recognised right to call the meeting. This topic asks what that 'something' is, in political systems generally.

In two minutes

Power is 'legalised' into authority through recognised sources such as the constitution, custom, election or appointment under law, delegation from a higher authority, and — for Weber's third type — the exceptional personal qualities a community attributes to a leader.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Political Science – II: Foundations of Political Obligation on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.