HANDOUT
(for students)
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AUTHORITY AND POWER WITHOUT AUTHORITY?
Purpose of Lesson
This lesson explains the definition of authority that we will study today. When you have completed this lesson, you should be able to explain the difference between authority and power without authority.
Terms to Know
- authority
- kangaroo court
- power
- paramilitary
Critical Thinking Exercise
DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN AUTHORITY AND POWER WITHOUT AUTHORITY
Read the story below and then answer the “What do you think” questions. Be prepared to share your answers with the class.
Vigilant Justice in Northern Ireland
by Tony Horwitz
Belfast, Northern Ireland – The kneecappers caught up with Eddie Kane outside a candy
shop, in a Catholic/Protestant war zone known as “Murder Mile”. Tossing a hood over
his head, two masked men questioned Mr. Kane about an assault on one of their mates. Then
they forced him to lie face down and pressed a gun to the back of his leg.
“Kneecapping” in Northern Ireland dates back to the beginnings of the civil strife –
known here as “the Troubles” – in 1969. At first an IRA (Irish Republican Army)
punishment for informers, kneecapping has come to cover a range of alleged crimes.
There is a circular argument used to justify kneecapping. It goes as follows: The Troubles
have caused citizens, Catholics in particular, to consider the police as enemies. Indeed,
because paramilitary groups often ambush police, law-enforcement groups do have trouble
combating ordinary crime. So, if someone steals your car, don’t call the police (and
risk being branded an informer). Call the “Provos” – the IRA – or, if you are a
Protestant, call loyalist groups such as the Ulster Freedom Fighters, who will take
action.
“Kneecapping is brutal, but what are you supposed to do?” asks Maureen Mcguire, a
Catholic mother of two sons, aged seven and eight. Like many of her neighbors, she says
“hoods” are running amok and police “won’t or can’t come get them”.
Kneecapping has thus assumed the aura of a shadow legal system. People call it “rough
justice”, meted out by gunmen known as “circuit judges”, who sometimes hold kangaroo
courts. Defendants are found guilty of “antisocial behavior”. Sentences are tailored
to the misdeed. Minor miscreants – pot-smokers, say – will be warned. On second
offense they will be beaten or shot through the calf or thigh. More serious offenders get
a bullet through the knee. If they don’t reform, they are shot again, through several
limbs.
“Crimes” now deemed to merit kneecapping include failure to pay dues to paramilitary
groups.
While police in Belfast are indeed hampered by public distrust, by their fear of booby
traps, and by the need to patrol inside armor-plated jeeps, constables hardly overlook
common crime. In recent months police have arrested a number of those kneecapped as
lawbreakers. Many are now awaiting trial in the local courts.
The police have also begun a program to investigate the kneecappers themselves for taking
matters of law enforcement in their own hands and for conducting kangaroo courts.
The police have made a number of arrests and several former vigilantes await their day in
a court of law.
The Wall Street Journal
What do you think?
- Who in the news article is using power?
- What is the difference between the use of power by paramilitary groups to punish suspected criminals and the use of power by government to punish suspected criminals through the court system?
- How does the “shadow legal system” of kneecapping differ from an established legal system of police and courts? How is it similar to an established legal system?
Power or Authority?
The exercise you have just completed raises questions of power and authority. The distinction between the two ideas is important. You may have been in situations where someone used power to force you to do something against your will. Sometimes that person may have had the right to do so; other times he or she may not have had the right. When does someone have the right to control your behavior?
- Do your parents have the right to require you to be home at a certain time? Why or why not?
- Do you have the right to make your younger brother or sister leave the TV set alone? Why or why not?
- Does your principal have the right to require you not to leave the school campus during the school day? Why or why not?
- Does your friend have the right to force you to do something you do not want to do? Why or why not?
- Does the government have the right to require you to obey a law that you believe is wrong? Why or why not?
To answer these questions, we need to know the difference between power and authority. Although there may be more than one way to define these terms, for our purposes we will use the following definitions:
Power is the ability to control or to direct something or someone. Sometimes people have the right to use power; sometimes they do not.
- When a thief robs you at gunpoint, he has the power to do so. He does not have the right.
- When the Supreme Court says a law is constitutional, it has both the power and the right to do so.
Authority is power combined with the right to use that power. The right to power usually comes from laws, customs, or principles of morality.
- Police officers have the authority to arrest a person because the law gives them the right
- Parliament/ Congress/ has the authority to pass a law because the Constitution gives it the right.
Critical Thinking Exercise
DESCRIBING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AUTHORITY AND POWER WITHOUT AUTHORITY
To help you understand the difference between authority and power without authority, read the sentences below and answer the questions that follow. Be prepared to explain your answer to the class.
- Police officer Karen Weidman gives Allison Green a ticket for speeding.
- Jerry Robinson tells Joseph Rosen to stay away from his girlfriend or Jerry will “take care of him”.
- Judge Brown places Maggie Johnson on probation.
- The government imprisons Juan Rodriguez for refusing to serve in the army during the Vietnam war because of his belief that it is morally wrong to kill.
- Arturo Lopez tells his daughter that she will have to stay at home all week because she was out past her curfew on Saturday night.
- Bob Jackson, who is bigger than most of his classmates, cuts in front of the cafeteria line.
- Jane Smith, the owner of an illegal gambling house, tells a customer to pay his debt or prepare for trouble.
- Two members of a gang shoot and cripple Eddie Kane for revenge.
- William Bergeron tells the two girls sitting next to him in the movie theatre to move because they are making too much noise.
- The manager tells Sally Frost that she is not allowed to smoke in the “no smoking “section of the restaurant.
What do you think?
- Which situations illustrate the use of authority? Why?
- Which situations illustrate power without authority? Why?
- Why is it important to know the difference between authority and power without authority?
HOME ASSIGNMENTS
- Go on keeping the Law and Order Journal. Write brief descriptions of four real or imaginary incidents that illustrate the use of authority and the use of power without authority. You may use incidents from your experiences or from newspapers, magazines, books, TV shows or films.
- Bring two newsclippings to class that illustrate use of authority or power without authority and explain them (from local or central newspapers).
Teaching Procedures
Lesson: What is the difference between Authority and Power without Authority?
(Optional lesson to Unite 8, Student’s book New Millennium 11)
Lesson overview
This lesson introduces the study of authority. Students learn the definition of authority. Then they examine various contemporary and hypothetical situations to learn to distinguish when someone is exercising authority and when someone is exercising power without authority.
Lesson Objectives
At the conclusion of this lesson students should be able to do the following:
- define the terms “power” and “authority”
- identify situations which are examples of authority and those which are examples of power without authority
- explain the basis for their identification of situations involving authority or power without authority
- explain why it might be important to make a distinction between authority and power without authority
- think critically on the issues about authority and power without authority
Skills development
Students will
- read for specific information and for gist
- practise deducing the meaning of unknown words and phrases through contextual clues
- express and justify their opinion on the topic
- keep a journal on the topic “Crime and Punishment”
Preparation/Materials Required
Handouts with a text and some activities
A. Introducing the lesson
While you post the “Terms to Know” on the board, have the class read “Purpose of Lesson” in the handout. Direct class discussion to the terms power and authority. Ask one-half of the students to think about the meaning of the word “power” and the other half to think about the meaning of the word “authority”. Then ask students to share their thoughts with the class. On the board post the definitions students suggest. Leave the definitions on the board for future reference.
B. Critical Thinking Exercise
Distinguishing between Authority and Power without Authority
Have the class complete the critical thinking exercise “Distinguishing between Authority and Power without Authority” in the handout. Have students read the selection “Vigilante Justice in Northern Ireland” and respond to the “What do you think?” questions. You may want students to work individually or with a study partner to complete the exercise. After students have completed their work, ask them to share their responses with the class. Some responses include:
- Which people in this story are using power?
- What is the difference between the use of power by the kneecappers and by the police?
Kneecappers: maimed criminals and other citizens; threatened citizens
Police: arrested suspected kneecappers; investigated kangaroo courts
Help students understand that the police had the authority to do what they did because the law or custom gave government officials that right. Make sure students understand that individuals who exercise authority over others have the right to do so according to custom, law or principles of morality. You may want to make the point that, although an individual may have the right to exercise authority in a certain situation, that does not guarantee that he or she will exercise that authority justly, fairly, properly or morally.
Help students understand that the members of the Irish Republican Army had no authority. They do not have a right to control or direct other people’s behavior. Make sure students understand that while power is the ability to control or direct others, individuals who do so but lack the right (according to custom, law or principles of morality) are said to be using power without authority.
C. Reading and Discussion
Power or Authority
Have the class read “Power or Authority” in the handouts. Discuss with the class their responses to the questions in this section of the text:
- Do your parents have the right to require you to be home at a certain time? Why or why not?
- Do you have the right to make your younger brother leave the TV set alone? Why or why not?
- Does your principal have the right to require you not to leave the school campus during the school day?
- Does your friend have the right to force you to do something you do not want to do? Why or why not?
- Does the government have the right to require you to obey a law that you believe is wrong? Why or why not?
Review the definitions of power and authority and the examples for each described in the text. Help students understand that authority is
- power, the ability to control or direct the action of others, combined with
- the right, according to custom, law or principles of morality, to exercise that power.
D. Critical Thinking Exercise
Describing the Difference between Authority and Power without Authority
Divide the class into small groups of 3/5 students. Ask them to complete the critical thinking exercise “Describing the Difference between Authority and Power without Authority” from the handouts. Instruct students to read each situation and respond to the “What do you think?” questions. After the groups have completed their work, ask them to share their responses with the class. Situations 1, 3, 4, 5 and 10 are examples of authority. Situations 2, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are examples of power without authority.
E. Concluding the lesson
Ask students to cite examples of authority from their own experience or from fiction,
television or movies.
Conclude the lesson by asking the class why they think it might be important to be able to
distinguish between authority and power without authority.
Have the students to re-read “Purpose of Lesson” in their handouts. Ask them to
describe the extent to which they achieved the objectives of the lesson and how their
experience from Civics lessons helped them do it.
Home assignment: keeping a journal
The Law and Order Journal
Contents
- Irresponsible behavior
- Alternative methods of treating criminals
- Authority or power without authority