What is the essence of any authority? Nature and essence of power. Functions of power

Great dictators and noble monarchs, usurpers and legitimate heirs of the throne, presidents and emperors - all of them are united by one and only feature. Perhaps the most serious and significant engine of civilization can legitimately be the desire for power, glory, greatness, if I may say so.

The strongest survives

This simple law, finally formulated by Charles Darwin, is indeed one of the most substantiated and indisputable for the entire existence of mankind. If you think about it, it was the desire for power, the domination of the weaker, that spurred the person to improve from time immemorial.

Even during the primitive communal system, there is a tendency toward leadership, conquest and suppression of other contenders for the place of the strongest, leading, not led.

Formed at the dawn of time, this simple rule and understandable desire has survived to the present day, remaining in the management system, both at the government level and at the hierarchy level in every single family, group or collective.

Philosophy of Power

About what the essence of any power, humanity was conceived from time immemorial. In fact, it is this issue that has become one of the main issues since the end of the era of syncretism. Today, even the simplest, ordinary citizen from time to time thinks about the subject of what the essence of any power.

The answer to it, it would seem, is simple and obvious - the essence of this concept lies in a force capable of suppressing a weaker individual or group. Nevertheless, such an understanding today seems rather superficial and not entirely legitimate.

In the epochs of great achievements and conquests, a law of this kind was completely undeniable, and the strength of the army and its fighting ability was the determining factor in gaining power. Today, the situation is somewhat different: the president does not need to suppress the population to establish his own position, and the crown has been passed from generation to generation in the UK for more than one hundred years. It should be noted that not a single drop of blood is spilled.

So what is the essence of any power in this case?

Suppression and charisma

As a rule, these two ways are the most effective in relation to the attainment of a particular status. Let us recall, for example, the Second World War and the painful aspiration of Adolf Hitler to world domination, the formation of a pure Aryan race. In this case, as a lever, it is precisely the use of force, aggression in relation to other countries and nationalities.

At the same time, there are extensive US pre-election campaigns, during which candidates for the presidency roll around the states, proving to the people the necessity and correctness of their election. Such a democratic path to winning positions is based primarily on the charisma of a potential leader.

What is it for?

To determine what is the essence of any power, you must first pay attention to its functions, purpose. Speaking most generally, they can be reduced to the formation of a kind of management mechanism in this or that sphere, whether it be a state activity or a worker, a school or, for example, a creative team.

Conditions of existence

The system of power can not be fully organized without at least two actors - the leader and the slave, which seems quite obvious. More important factor can be called a mandatory, a priori expression of the will of the master, finding an appropriate expression in the activities of the suppressed.

Essence and specificity

Drawing attention to the regulatory management functions of power, one can not but note its characteristic features. First of all, this, of course, is all-embracing, global. Such kind of subject-object relations, as already mentioned earlier, are characteristic for any sphere of life. From the first feature naturally follows and the second - the inclusiveness of power, its ability to penetrate all activities characteristic of man.

Also, the main properties of this reality include its asymmetry and inversion.

Resources and prerequisites

No phenomenon can exist without a sufficient basis for this. The functions of power can be exercised only with the availability of certain resources, and in as much as possible possible expression.

So, economic, material stocks always acted as the most significant help in gaining power over what and by anyone. For example, the general director of an enterprise becomes a leader because of not so much outstanding abilities, but as a result of having a sufficient material base for paying subordinates.

An important role in this respect is played by social resources: great popular support, sympathy for a particular group.

Legal resources include a set of rules and regulations currently available. And the administrative-force elements do not require separate explanations at all.

Modes and the state

What is the essence of state power? First of all, like any other, it has a global character, extending to each member of a society. A distinctive feature of this kind of leadership can be called its sovereignty, relative independence from the power structures of other countries. In this case, one should understand the right to the uniqueness, the particularity of the administrative, regulatory component.

Finally, state power is naturally considered the most hierarchical and comprehensive at the same time. On the one hand, the legitimate leader has the greatest degree of influence on this or that phenomenon. On the other hand, his powers are divided into all sorts of systems, from the parliament to mayors and governors.

As for the basic political mechanisms, most researchers identify such regimes of power, or rather, their groups, as authoritarianism, democracy and the so-called "emergency" managerial situations. As a rule, the former include totalitarianism and socialism. The second group, based on the decision of the people, was formed in the distant era of Antiquity. The third is in the so-called time of upheavals and revolutions.