Authority

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial authority in the United States of America.

Authority is commonly understood as the legitimate power of a person or group over other people.[1] In a civil state, authority is practiced by the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government.[2] The term authority has many nuances and distinctions within various academic fields ranging from sociology to political science.

In the exercise of governance, the terms authority and power are inaccurate synonyms. The term authority identifies the political legitimacy, which grants and justifies the ruler's right to exercise the power of government; and the term power identifies the ability to accomplish an authorized goal, either by compliance or by obedience; hence, authority is the power to make decisions and the legitimacy to make such legal decisions and order their execution.[3]

  1. ^ Bealey, Frank (1999). The Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science: A User's Guide to Its Terms. Wiley. pp. 22–23. ISBN 0-631-20694-9.
  2. ^ The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought Third Edition, Allan Bullock and Stephen Trombley, Eds. p. 115.
  3. ^ The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought Third Edition, Allan Bullock and Stephen Trombley, Eds. pp. 677–678.