Sub-Heading
Whisenand and McCain describe the difference between authority and power as follows: authority is the right to command due to position, while power is the right (or, ironically, authority) to command due to people extending them that right (2015, 198-199). These are only the basic definitions, of course; the meanings of both of these words are much deeper, and contain both cultural and societal references which serve to further differentiate the two words.
Power and authority are both given to people in charge, and as shown above, they both involve having command over others (Whisenand & McCain, 2015, 198-200), and they both have restrictions and privileges granted to them by that command, but that is where the similarities end. While both power and authority may end up concentrated in the hands of a few (think of most democratic governments, for example), that does not necessarily mean they are the same.
Authority – the right to command which is inherited via position – is, “by its very definition, [the] positionto command or influence the acts of others.” (Whisenand & McCain, 2015, 199), and the weakness of such a position should be immediately obvious – if authority comes from the position rather than the person, they can easily be removed from that position, thus losing their authority. However, such a position also allows people to control access to rewards, thus using their own power as a means of limiting the accumulation of power (in the form of status) by other people.
Power – the right to command which is inherited via people – is a position which by its very nature allows a person to accumulate influence and expertise. The weakness of such a position is that the people who bestow it can just as easily take it away. Unlike the position of authority, however, someone who has power and accumulates influence can make themselves into someone who is invaluable, and therefore someone it is inadvisable to remove.
Reference
Whisenand, P. M. & McCain, E. D. (2015). Supervising Police Personnel: Strengths-Based Leadership. (8th. Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Pp. 195-209.
