Question

Briefly describe the difference between a government's power and its authority. Then describe a situation in which a government has either power or authority but not both

Answer 1

Answer:

The main difference between the power of a government and the authority of a government, and the one that marks the distinction between both concepts, lies in how each concept is carried out: thus, while the power of a government implies a series of attributions and powers that it has to manage and organize the resources of a nation, its authority is the ability it has to impose that power on the citizens of the country.

In this sense, the powers of a government are static, arise from the laws that create and organize them, and are part of the administrative function of the government. Instead, the government's authority arises from the force it has to apply its laws, as well as from the coercion it carries out through its police and military bodies, and from the trust and credit that citizenship grants it.

On many occasions it happens that a government has the power but not the authority to impose a certain regulation: mainly, this occurs when there is social discontent. Thus, for example, a government may apply a law to prohibit protests on the public highway, but it may not have the authority to apply said norm because it does not have the necessary support.