Unit 1 of Political Science – II (syllabus: Module I — power as a concept, the exercise of political power and the role of government in decision-making, external influences including interest groups and lobbying, and the elite and Marxist theories of power; authority, its features, de jure and de facto, Weber’s classification and the sources of legalised power; the comparison of power with authority; and legitimacy). Below: what the unit covers, the provisions it turns on, and the cases an examiner expects you to name.
What this unit covers
- What is the difference between power, authority and legitimacy?
- What is the defect common to all the standard definitions of power?
- What are Max Weber's three types of authority, and what turns on the difference?
- What is the difference between de jure and de facto authority?
- How does economic power reach political decisions in a democracy?
- How does ideology serve as a base of political power?
- What is the Marxist theory of power, and what did Gramsci add to it?
- How does the elite theory of power differ from the class theory?
Treat that list as a self-test: recite each topic's rule from memory before you open its cases.