Political authority

Philosophies

By period
Ancient Ancient Egyptian Ancient Greek Medieval Renaissance Modern Contemporary Analytic Continental
By region
African Egypt Ethiopia South Africa Eastern philosophy Chinese Indian Indonesia Japan Korea Vietnam Indigenous American Aztec philosophy Middle Eastern philosophy Iranian Western American British French German Italian Russian
By religion
Buddhist Confucian Christian Hindu Islamic Jain Jewish Taoist

Politics
Part of the Politics series
Outline Index Category
Primary topics Outline of political science Index of politics articles Politics by country Politics by subdivision Political economy Political history Political history of the world Political philosophy
Political systems Anarchy City-state Collective leadership Confessional system Democracy Dictatorship Directorial Federacy Feudalism Hybrid regime Meritocracy Monarchy Parliamentary Presidential Republic Semi-parliamentary Semi-presidential Theocracy
Academic disciplines Political science (political scientists) International relations (theory) Comparative politics Election science Political analysis Political theory Policy studies Political psychology Political sociology
Public administration Bureaucracy (street-level) Technocracy Adhocracy Service (Public / Civil)
Policy Public policy (doctrine) Domestic policy Foreign policy Civil society Public interest
Government branches Separation of powers Legislature Executive Judiciary Election commission
Related topics Sovereignty Polity / State / Country Theories of political behavior Biology and political orientation Political organisations Critique of political economy
Subseries Electoral systems Elections voting Unitarism Federalism Government (forms / Governance) Ideology Culture Political campaigning Political parties
Politics portal
v t e

In political philosophy and ethics, political authority describes any of the moral principles legitimizing differences between individuals' rights and duties by virtue of their relationship with the state.^[1] Political authority grants members of a government the right to rule over citizens using coercion if necessary (i.e., political legitimacy), while imposing an obligation for the citizens to obey government orders (i.e., political obligation).^[2]

A central question in political philosophy is "To what extent is political authority legitimate?" Views range from political authority and having no legitimacy (philosophical anarchism) to political authority being virtually unlimited in scope (totalitarianism).^[1]

References

[edit]

^ ^a ^b Christiano, Tom (19 March 2013). "Authority". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford University. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
^ Huemer, Michael (January 2013). The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 5–7. ISBN 978-1137281654.

This article about political philosophy or theory is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.