Tools of Politics: Power and Authority

Power - refers broadly to any ability to effect change or exert control over either things or people, subjects or objects.

Authority - refers to a claim of legitimacy, the justification and right to exercise that power.

In government, authority is often used interchangeably with the term "power". However, their meanings differ: while "power" is defined as "the ability to influence somebody to do something that he could not have done", "authority" refers to a claim of legitimacy, the justification and right to exercise that power. For example, whilst a mob has the power to punish a criminal, for example by lynching, people who believe in the rule of law consider that only a court of law has the authority to order capital punishment.