Power and public authority
| Published date | 01 July 2024 |
| Author | William D. Ferguson |
| Date | 01 July 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13205 |
Global Policy. 2024;15(Sup pl. 4):11–23 .
|
11
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/gpol
1 | BASIC CONCEPTS
AND APPROACH
The concept of public authority conc erns how myriad
actors, ranging from designated offic ials to customary
chiefs, gang leaders, or cultural innovators, deliver
varying and shifting degrees of so cial order within
specific territories— that is, how such parties inter-
act using cooperation, competition, and/or conflict, to
enact, implement, enforce, maintain, revise or overturn
social practices and polic ies. Addressing areas often
overlooked by traditional approaches to state authority,
this concept focuses on how various t ypes of authority
emerge within specific localities from continuous con-
testation among multiple parties, occupying variously
juxtaposed and shifting positions along messy con-
tested continua that span public and private domains.
Establishing public authority requires facilitating col-
lective action, by utilising existing social prac tices, often
embedded within overlapping layers of informal and for-
mal institutions.1 Authority thus emerges from a muddle
of competing claims by parties whos e tools of influence
vary from acts or threats of violence to rhetoric ab out
proper behaviour or small acts of withholding coopera-
tion (Scott,1985). Attaining credible authority entails suc-
cessfully claiming to act in the interest of a communit y,
which may or may not include various groups within spe -
cific areas. Contesting parties evoke local norm s and em-
ploy language, symbols and the delivery of publi c goods
and services— notably provision of security— along with
control of territory as they seek minimal acce ptance or
legitimacy across relevant groups. Regarding poli cy,
the idea of public authority informs our und erstanding
of the multiple gaps between policy intention, adoption,
implementation and outcomes and, more gen erally, in-
teractions between degrees of sovereignty, participants,
recipients, institutions and development. Due to the com-
plexity of these interactions, public authori ty scholars rely
on empirical studies of specifi c local cases.2
Power dynamics permeate the foundations and
dynamics of public authority.3 A systematic approach
to the elusive concept of power— one that explicitly
articulates how power underlies and infuses publ ic
authority— thus offers an additional lens for inquiry into
origins, workings and implication s of public authority.
One might ask: to what degree do even locally em-
bedded exercises of public authority refle ct inclusive
or exclusive participation and distribution of benefits?4
Policy analysts, especially those concerned with iden-
tifying strategies for enhancing polit ical, economic and
social inclusion, should con sider how power shapes
exercises of authority within specific contexts.
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Power and public authority
William D.Ferguson
Received: 7 Octo ber 2022
|
Revised: 15 March 2023
|
Accepted: 16 March 2 023
DO I: 10 .1111/17 58- 589 9.13 205
© 2023 Durham Unive rsity and John Wiley & So ns Ltd.
Gertrude B. Au stin Professor of
Economics, Gr innell College, Iowa, USA
Correspondence
William D. Ferguso n, Gertrude B. Austin
Professor of Econo mics, Grinnell Coll ege,
Grinnell, Iowa 50112, USA.
Email: ferguso1@grinnell.edu
Abstract
Public authority addresses how actors, ran ging from officials to gang leaders,
and cultural innovators, interact via cooperation, competit ion and conflict to gen-
erate shifting degrees of social order wi thin territories. This paper summarises
four key components that directly relate to power. First, power underlies pub-
lic authority. Second, public authority enta ils and engenders institutional brico-
lage. Third, public authorities utilise functi ons, structures, ideas and symbols of
statehood. Fourth, public authorities seek l egitimacy. A systematic exposition of
power informs analysing public authority— notably the degree to which it facili-
tates inclusive or exclusive participation and distribution of benefits. This paper
outlines a conceptual framework, with attentio n to basic elements of power, using
a triadic approach that incorporates seven basic formats (or strategic templates)
for exercising such power. This framework can inform subsequent inquiry and
policy analysis.
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