Power and Politics Question and Answer How does power and politics in organizations compare? Power and politics have several similarities. The largest similarity is found in their desire to sway others. Power is recognized as the ability to influence others to do what is needed, or to accomplish something in a particular way. This is typically accomplished through a combination of control and influence.
What is power? Why is understanding power essential to understanding government? Answer: Power is the ability to control others in a society. In order to understand government you need to understand that most of the time there will be people with power over you. After accepting that you can focus on just how much you want that power to be limited, but in order for you to benefit from the government you have to realize that they will have that power.
In societies with low power distance, people try hard to equalise the distribution of power and claim justification for inequalities of power. So how does this manifest in a culture or country? In a high power distance cultures the following may be observed: . Those in authority openly demonstrate their position. .
Going further on politics, if this person enjoys politics, this complex may take on strong constellating power, which would draw greater personal attention by that individual. Outside of the personal unconscious lies the collective unconscious, which is more transpersonal, meaning it consists of certain potentialities that we all share because we are human. This concept is defined mostly by culture and overall
Examine the process of legitimation and exercise of authority in local power structures? Power, authority and legitimacy are more or less used as synonyms in the present societal context. A person or group withholding power is unquestionably regarded as propounders of legitimate authority. Exploring the concepts of power, authority and legitimacy becomes important as it forms an integral part of our society for a simple reason that these are the defining features of a social being with social and political institutions and hierarchies. In this essay I try to explore the evolution of power into one that is legitimate and widely accepted.
These three ideal types are beliefs on how a person or a country is ran while also being used to validate the right of the rulers. The first ideal type of legitimate domination is charismatic authority. This type of authority is based on someone who has charisma, “…a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which he is considered extraordinary and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers,” (Weber 177). This type of authority figure usually has an ability to charm, persuade and direct their people. Charismatic authority is not based upon traditional or legal authority; it is based upon how the authority figure is able to have a relationship with his followers that are both emotional and spiritual.
More recent conceptualisations of leadership include contingency theory (), and transformational leadership (). Each of these theoretical models has a contribution to make in forming a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between leadership and organizational change and we shall explore how adopting a definition for leadership or organizational change infers the role of the other. However we define leadership, the concepts of organizational change and leadership can be argued to be inextricably linked. If a leader was not able to effect any change within an organization then it is hard to imagine a way in which such a leader could be effective in their role. Thus organizational change is at the very heart of a leader’s role.
Political Power My thesis is, governments, politicians, corporations, unions, advocacy groups, as well as citizens all yield forms of political power, such as hard, soft and derivative power, for many different objectives. To understand political power, you must first understand power, and politics. Power, as defined on page 3 of the text book, states that it is a way to control persons, or institutions behavior, by persuasion of coercion. Politics is a process in which a community selects a leader, empowers them, with decision making, action taking ability for common goals, and reconciles conflicts within the community. Through political participation, we empower leaders we hope will have policies for the general good, betterment of society, the public interest in mind.
According to Robbins and Judge (2011), the bases of power can be grouped into two, formal and personal power (p. 421). Formal power is an individual’s position within the organization and personal power is an individual unique characteristics. Formal power can be grouped as coercive power, fear of the negative results from failing to comply with a person in leadership; reward power, a person complies due to the positive benefits it may produce; and legitimate power, “formal authority to control and use organizational resources based on structural position in the organization” (Robbins & Judge, 2011, p.422). When it comes to formal power, a person that has a leadership position has the authority over their employees’ behavior. However, when it comes to personal power, such as expert power, then that individual has the power based on their expertise.
Public Policy a.Define public policy. Public policy is both the written and unwritten laws of a society that suggest the moral, ethical and social behaviors of people (Capalli, 1997, p. 393). Some public policies are common understandings among a group of people that exist in a particular locale, while other public policies affect the whole of society within a certain nation. Public policies guide a society in the direction that the people believe that it should be headed. However, because economic and social factors are constantly changing within the social order, public policies change as well to meet the varying needs and goals of the people.