Power And Authority
KELETSO NTAELENG KGOPO
ID NUMBER: 201203375
POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSIGNMENT 1
Question selected: Using concrete examples, compare and contrast power and authority....
Power and authority are some of the basic concepts used in the study of Politics. This essay will focus on defining these concepts, and will also discuss the similarities and differences between the two. It will commence with a general discussion of these fundamentals, after which it will elaborate on these definitions by using examples to compare and contrast them.
Power is the specific ability to get things done; the capacities of a person to make someone else do or think in a certain way. It is often used by leaders with entrepreneurial abilities in organisations to reach optimal achievement, and when it is used, it is said to be exercised. Dorothy Emmet (2012) sees power as “creative energy” as it may manifest itself in the creation of art, ideas, discoveries and inventions, stimulating creative work and effort in other people. Someone may possess power because of their charismatic qualities- extraordinary characteristics such as bravery and baldness.
An example of a charismatic leader with power is the late Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, also known as Madiba. Mandela was an anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994-1999. He had good oriental skills which were strong enough to have threatened the whites (the opposition) every time he voiced out, which even led to his imprisonment. This is how he was powerful, such that the whites felt the need to put him in total isolation- Robin Island (the harshest prison ever in South Africa) for 27 years. Because of his charisma and good heart, even after serving his prison years, he wanted peace even though under normal circumstances one would have wanted revenge. This is what made him an exemplary leader, so much that leaders across the superpower countries such as Queen
ID NUMBER: 201203375
POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSIGNMENT 1
Question selected: Using concrete examples, compare and contrast power and authority....
Power and authority are some of the basic concepts used in the study of Politics. This essay will focus on defining these concepts, and will also discuss the similarities and differences between the two. It will commence with a general discussion of these fundamentals, after which it will elaborate on these definitions by using examples to compare and contrast them.
Power is the specific ability to get things done; the capacities of a person to make someone else do or think in a certain way. It is often used by leaders with entrepreneurial abilities in organisations to reach optimal achievement, and when it is used, it is said to be exercised. Dorothy Emmet (2012) sees power as “creative energy” as it may manifest itself in the creation of art, ideas, discoveries and inventions, stimulating creative work and effort in other people. Someone may possess power because of their charismatic qualities- extraordinary characteristics such as bravery and baldness.
An example of a charismatic leader with power is the late Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, also known as Madiba. Mandela was an anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994-1999. He had good oriental skills which were strong enough to have threatened the whites (the opposition) every time he voiced out, which even led to his imprisonment. This is how he was powerful, such that the whites felt the need to put him in total isolation- Robin Island (the harshest prison ever in South Africa) for 27 years. Because of his charisma and good heart, even after serving his prison years, he wanted peace even though under normal circumstances one would have wanted revenge. This is what made him an exemplary leader, so much that leaders across the superpower countries such as Queen