Core Studies 3
Prof.
P. Currah
Paul Montagna, "Operational and Definitional Introduction to Power and Authority," PPP, 8th edition, pp. 44-49.
Group work on authority
Exercise: Choose a secretary who will take notes. Be sure that the secretary writes the names of all group members on the assignment sheet.
1. How does Montagna define authority (44)?
2. What makes the exercise of power "legitimate" in authority relations?
3. Identify the four kinds of authority discussed by Montagna. Give another example (different from Montagna’s) for each type of authority.
i. example
ii. example
iii. example
iv. example
4. Identify the various authority structures that may exist in a society.
5. Which type of authority structure (from question four above) best describes these situations?
i. Priest - parishioner
ii. police officer – someone getting a ticket
iii. Hitler - Nazi party members
iv. Independent prosecutor -- President of the United States
v. Queen Elizabeth -- British Subject
vi. Professor -- student
vii. Judge – plaintiff in a lawsuit
viii. Parent – child
6. Think about and answer about the following questions:
i. Why do you think you obey the law? When you get a speeding ticket, do you pay it? Why?
ii. If you could choose, would you choose to live in a world where you didn’t have to obey the law, but everyone else did? Why or why not?
iii. If you do stand during the national anthem, why?
iv. Why did so many people in Los Angeles get upset and riot after the police officers who beat Rodney King were acquitted?
v. Thinking through your response to question four, try to identify the most important aspect of the legal-rational form of authority.