Obeying duties under political obligation

Historical perspective of political obligation

Socrates view on obeying law
Socrates’s understanding of legal obligation rests a lot on analogies with personal morality. He
holds that there are two reasons why we are obliged to obey the laws.
Gratitude: the laws play a role for us like the role played by people to whom we are obliged to be
grateful.
Contract: Socrates agreed to obey the laws.

Divine command
Divine Command Theory is the view that morality is somehow dependent upon God, and that
moral obligation consists in obedience to God’s commands. Divine Command Theory includes
the claim that morality is ultimately based on the commands or character of God, and that the
morally right action is the one that God commands or requires

SOCIAL CONTRACT
Social contract theory, nearly as old as philosophy itself, is the view that persons’ moral and/or
political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the
society in which they live. Socrates uses something quite like a social contract argument to
explain to Crito why he must remain in prison and accept the death penalty

Duties under political obligaton

To have a political obligation is to have a moral duty to obey the laws of one's country or
state. On that point there is almost complete agreement among political philosophers
 Power and authority
Power

power is the capacity of an individual to influence the actions, beliefs, or conduct (behaviour) of
others
need of order at any level of society
Harmony is a social need. Within the field, it refers to the organization of many interrelated parts
of a society. Social order is present when individuals agree to a shared social contract that states
that certain rules and laws must be abided and certain standards, values, and norms maintained.

Division of powers
Separation of powers is most closely associated with political systems, in which the legislative,
executive, and judicial powers of government are vested in separate bodies. Partition of intensity
must be in
such evaluation, that any of the branches can work without unreasonable restrictions from the
others; yet interdependency between them should likewise be in such evaluation, that one
single branch can't preclude different's choices. This is the division of forces
guideline.

Effect of power over personality

Having power affects how individuals perceive their attributes, how they evaluate themselves,
and how they see themselves independently in relation to others. These effects of power on the
self facilitate prompt decision making and agency, allowing individuals to respond in ways that
are self-sufficient.

Authority
authority is the legitimate power that a person or a group of persons consensually possess and
practice over other people. In a civil state, authority is made formal by way of a judicial branch
and an executive branch of government.
Legitimate authority ___ A legitimate authority is one which is entitled to have its decisions
and rules accepted and followed by others. In the case of law, people feel a personal
responsibility to comply voluntarily with those laws that are created and enforced
by legitimate legal authorities
De facto authority

a term used to describe a person or a group that actually has control of a place, but which does
not have the legal authority to do so eg following a coup d'etat (=the rapid, illegal taking of
government power, usually by force and involving the military

political legitamcy
In political science, legitimacy is the right and acceptance of an authority, usually a governing
law or a regime. Whereas authority denotes a specific position in an established government, the
term legitimacy denotes a system of government—wherein government denotes "sphere of
influence"

BASIS FOR
POWER AUTHORITY
COMPARISON

Meaning Power means the ability
or potential of an
individual to influence
others and control their
actions.
The legal and formal right to
give orders and commands,
and take decisions is known
as an Authority.

What is it? It is a personal trait. It is a formal right, given to

the high officials.

Source Knowledge and Position & office

expertise.

Hierarchy Power does not follow Authority follows the

any hierarchy. hierarchy.

Resides with Person Designation

 BASIS FOR
POWER AUTHORITY
COMPARISON

Legitimate No Yes

Weber theory of authority

Weber defined domination (authority) as the chance of commands being obeyed by a
specifiable group of people. Legitimate authority is that which is recognized as legitimate and
justified by both the ruler and the ruled.

The consent theory of political authority

The consent theory of political authority states only a necessary condition of the legitimacy
of political authority. It states that a political authority is legitimate only if it has the
consent of those who are subject to its commands

Elite theory

theoretical perspective according to which (1) a community’s affairs

are best handled by a small subset of its members and (2) in modern
societies such an arrangement is in fact inevitable. These two tenets
are ideologically allied but logically separable
elite theorists emphasize the degree to which interlocking corporate and foundation directorates,
old school ties and frequent social interaction tend to link together and facilitate coordination
between the top leaders in business, government, civic organizations, educational and cultural
establishments and the mass media. This "power elite" can effectively dictate the main goals (if
not always the practical means and details) for all really important government policy making (as
well as dominate the activities of the major mass media and educational/cultural organizations in
society) by virtue of their control over the economic resources of the major business and
financial organizations in the country