Since government and politics are both at root about power and how it is distributed, it would be helpful to begin with a look at the concept. Governments are composed of the institutions that contain the power to determine how society’s burdens and rewards are allocated, and politics refers to the struggle to control those institutions.
At its simplest, power refers to the ability for one person or entity to cause another person or entity to act in a particular way.
- the authority of an individual's or group's (right?) to use power by making decisions, giving directives, and demanding compliance.
This can include a variety of things, but in our case it includes the power to force you to drive the speed limit, pay sales taxes, show up for a subpoena, and take one class in national government and another in state and local government (if you choose to go to public college and university in Texas). in our case, it also involves the power to push back against those rules by challenging or changing them.
- The Isley Brothers - Fight the Power, Pts. 1 & 2.
We can look at power in many ways. Let’s look at a few.
What power falls within the scope of a government? Moreover - in a federal system of checks and balances that contains within it 90,000 governments - which government has power over what? What types of powers does a limited government leave up to the private sector?
Regarding the powers of government: One way is to divide it into power that is legitimate, and power that is illegitimate.
[An alternative approach: centralized vs decentralized power.]
Legitimate Power
In the American system, we consider power to be legitimate if we consent to it. We are being told what to do because - at some point - we have participated in the process that led to the our being told what to do. This is the heart of self-government. Even if we are compelled to do something coercively - like if we have lost private property due to eminent domain - we have consented to a process that led to that coercion.
This is an abstract notion; one that is contained in the Declarations of Independence of both the United States and Texas.
US: We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Texas: When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived . . . the first law of nature, the right of self-preservation, the inherent and inalienable rights of the people to appeal to first principles, and take their political affairs into their own hands in extreme cases, enjoins it as a right towards themselves, and a sacred obligation to their posterity, to abolish such government, and create another in its stead.
But this is the easy part. Declaring independence is simple enough, obtaining and maintaining independence is the hard part. It requires the possession of power - actual power in the form of armies and police forces - which may not yet exist. The ability to exert power presupposes the possession of the means to do so, and this creates an additional problem. People with power tend to like to hold on to it, and expand it.
This leads to - what we tend to consider to be illegitimate power.
Illegitimate power:
A simple way to define this, is that it is power that we do not consent to. It's the opposite of the legitimate power. Even if we do not care for a specific law or policy, if we are in a position to participate meaningfully but we just find ourselves in the minority, we cannot cry foul. If the rules were fair, then we just have to work harder to ensure that we win out the next time. We have to improve our arguments, organize more effectively, and rally people to our side. Losing is not an indication of illegitimacy.
If however we are not able to participate, if we have no ability to push back against the rules that impact us, we may be able to argue that the power that controls us is in fact illegitimate. It is power that we have not consented to. Often it is power that has no limit and cannot be effectively contained. This was the argument that the drafters of the U.S. and Texas Declarations of Independence argued. But it is also an argument that various groups have made over American and Texas history. The ability to participate meaningfully - be it politically, economically, or socially - has only been expanded in recent decades. Even then it has been dome in fits and starts. Expansions are often met with resistance. Two steps forward, one step back.
Much of the ground we will cover in this class will focus on this expansion and contraction. Sometimes that dividing line between what counts as legitimate and illegitimate power will blur. For now here are a few concluding thoughts about what makes power legitimate.
- Its is based on the governed: The people who are affected by the laws are able to participate in its formation.
- It is limited: A government cannot do anything it chooses. There are limits in terms of substance - what a government does, and process - how a government can do things.
- It is separated: Rather than have all power vested in one institution and/or person, it is separated into different departments each with a defined power. In the case of American institutions there are three separate powers vested in three separate institutions. The legislative power is vested in a bicameral Congress, the executive power is vested in a president and bureaucracy, and the judicial power is vested in a court system.
- It is checked: Simple separation is not enough. Limits on the power of each institution are enforced by the other institutions. Each can check what the others do.
- It is not arbitrary: Governing powers follow a steady, predictable process. They are not driven by the arbitrary whims of an individual or group.
- It is transparent: Though exceptions can be made, information related to the actions of government are made available for inspection. Outside forces can monitor these actions in order to seek out corruption and unethical behavior.
- It is participatory: People have the right, as well as the ability, to influence the behavior of government by participating in a variety of ways. This can include voting, creating organizations, and running for office.
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For More:
- Power, Authority, Hierarchy.
- Four periods of expansion of national power.
- Texas Declaration of Independence and Declaration of Secession.
- Max Weber: Traditionalistic, Charismatic, Rational - Legal.
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