After Authority
Copyright (c) 2025 Varga Csaba
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Authority is a fundamental tool of social integration. By selecting the most laudable and exemplary patterns, behaviours, actions or events – whether real or merely imagined – from the entire range of potentialities, it creates a community capable of communal action, by transforming an undifferentiated mass of independent individuals into a somewhat cohesive social group able to find common ground on matters vital for their shared existence, thus turning mere quantity into quality. It is thus evident that the existence of a certain degree of authority is also the basis for the viability of public administration, public policy and public management – to name but a few – in any given society. This paper will examine the conditions, manifestations and correlations of authority in the various domains of its social context, in order to provide a comprehensive account of its existence, its inevitability, but also the dangers inherent in its weakening.
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References
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