POL 232 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Majoritarianism, Limited Government, First Continental Congress
20 May 2020
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Authority: the right and power of a government or other entity to enforce its decisions and compel obedience. Under normal circumstances, the government"s authority has broad popular support. People accept the government"s right to establish rules and laws. When authority is broadly accepted, we say that it has legitimacy. Authority without legitimacy is a recipe for trouble (ex. Dictators of several arab nations: tunisia, egypt, and libya exercised authority but lost their legitimacy because use of undemocratic means). Legitimacy: popular acceptance of the right and power of a government or other entity. Liberty: the greatest freedom of the individual that is consistent with the freedom of other individuals in the society. Free to make choices in the private sphere (ex. Democracy: a system of government in which political authority is vested in the people. Direct democracy: a system of government in which political decisions are made by the people directly, rather than by their elected representatives.
