Authority
In terms of bureaucratic governance, one limitation of the governmental agents of the executive branch, as outlined by George A. Krause, is that they are not as close to the popular will as elected representatives are.
[9] The relevance of a grounded understanding of authority includes the basic foundation and formation of political, civil and/or ecclesiastical institutions or representatives.
Most democratic societies are engaged in an ongoing discussion regarding the legitimate extent of the exercise of governmental authority.
In sociology, authority is the legitimate or socially approved power which one person or a group possesses and practices over another.
[citation needed] Weber defined domination (authority) as the chance of commands being obeyed by a specifiable group of people.
Superiors, he states, feel that they have a right to issue commands; subordinates perceive an obligation to obey (see also Milgram experiment).
His legitimacy must be acknowledged, not just by citizens, but by those who control other valued resources: his immediate staff, his cabinet, military leaders and in the long run, the administration and political apparatus of the entire society.
The political authority in the British context can be traced to James VI and I of Scotland who wrote two political treatises called Basilikon Doron and The True Law of Free Monarchies: Or, The Reciprocal and Mutual Duty Between a Free King and His Natural Subjects which advocated his right to rule on the basis of the concept of the divine right of kings, a theological concept that has a basis in multiple religions, but in this case, Christianity, tracing this right to the apostolic succession.
Sovereign kings and queens in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms are considered the foundations of judicial, legislative and executive authority.
This understanding of political authority and the exercise of political powers in the American context traces back to the writings of the Founding Fathers, including the arguments put forward in The Federalist Papers by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and the first chief justice of the United States John Jay, and was referenced in the unanimous United States Declaration of Independence:[22] 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, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.Later, speeches by the 16th president of the United States Abraham Lincoln would reiterate this fundamental source of legitimacy.
[23]: 21 In his 1854 speech at Peoria, Illinois, Lincoln espoused the proposition “that each man should do precisely as he pleases with all which is exclusively his own," a principle existing "at the foundation of the sense of justice.
"[23]: 47 This sense of personal ownership and stewardship was integral to the practice of self-government as Lincoln saw it by a Republican nation and its people.
The president influences the appointments, and the budgeting process and has the right and capacity to review regulatory rules on a case-by-case basis.
[24] The creation of a regulatory agency requires an Act of Congress which specifies its jurisdiction, the related authority and delegated powers.
