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On the importance of personal sources of power in politics

Baturo, Alexander ORCID: 0000-0002-1108-5287 and Elkink, Johan A. ORCID: 0000-0002-8275-533X (2017) On the importance of personal sources of power in politics. French Politics, 15 (4). pp. 505-525. ISSN 1476-3419

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Abstract

Political actors derive influence both from their official position and from their own personal standing. However, political science has proven to be better equipped to study formal powers and institutions. The study of informal arrangements, where actors rely on personal connections and authority, is more challenging. This has arguably led to the predominance of an institutional focus in research. We argue for the study of informal sources of power as an equally important area of research. Drawing from historical and contemporary examples, we reintroduce the concepts of auctoritas and potestas to underline the difference between individual and institutional sources of influence. We discuss the various obstacles to measurement and outline attempts proposed to date in the literature.

Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:auctoritas; potestas; institutions; personal sources of power; informal influence in politics
Subjects:Social Sciences > Political science
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > School of Law and Government
Publisher:Springer
Official URL:https://dx.doi.org/10.1057/s41253-017-0033-x
Copyright Information:© 2017 Springer
Use License:This item is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. View License
ID Code:25469
Deposited On:05 Mar 2021 17:04 by Thomas Murtagh . Last Modified 05 Mar 2021 17:04

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