publicadministrationdictionary.docVIP

Public Administration Dictionary (Updated: 1-29-09) Unless otherwise indicated, the terms below come from Chandler, Ralph C. and Plano, Jack D., The Public Administration Dictionary, 2nd Ed., John Wiley Sons, 1988. Or, from: Gould, Julius; and William L. Kolb, A Dictionary of the Social Sciences, The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, The Free Press, NY, 1964. Authority The right to invoke compliance by subordinates on the basis of formal position and control over rewards and sanctions. Authority is institutionalized power. A power relationship is based on the ability to coerce compliant behavior if necessary. Without authority, power relationships develop according to status, knowledge, and informal characteristics. Authority, however, is based on legitimate foundations that formally establish structure and position within an organization. As social groups are formed, superior-subordinate relationships form. These power structures are perpetuated by tradition and eventually legitimized by law, statute, or formal rules. German sociologist Max Weber identified three types of authority. Charismatic authority depends on the personal characteristics of the authority figure. Traditional authority is the stabilization of informal roles over time. Rational-legal authority is formally legitimized as when a state grants institutional rights to a corporation. This type of authority, like others, is delegated through hierarchical patterns and depends on effective flow of direction from top to bottom if it is to succeed. Significance Authority has a “zone of acceptance” according to organization theorist Herbert A. Simon. Unless a directive falls within this zone, it will not be effective, since it will be rejected by subordinates. Thus formal authority is limited. More and more in modern organizations, workers are questioning formal authority. If a synthesis of Weber’s three types of authority were used, the “zone of acce