Depending upon the country and community in which you live, the authority exercised by elected officials is defined by formal rules and informal norms of behavior that apply in that jurisdiction. Authority is the willing compliance, almost automatic, with dictates from figures to whom we grant that authority. The formal rules limiting government officials’ authority should protect citizens from abuses of that authority but informal norms may sometimes allow elected officials to get away with actions that violate those rules or, at least, bend them to their own purposes.
