Authority Abbreviations

From the Latin auctorĭtas, authority is power , legitimacy, or faculty. In general, the term refers to the people who govern or exercise command: “The authorities decreed the closure of the factory, accused of contaminating the environment”.

Authority also corresponds to the prestige gained by a person or organization thanks to their quality or competence in a particular subject or area of ​​expertise: “Dr. Lopes is an authority with regard to heart surgery”, “An authority on these issues such as the Applied Research Foundation ratified the neighbors’ complaint”.

Authority tends to be associated with state power. State officials have the power to command and give orders, which must be complied with as long as they comply with the laws and regulations in force.

Another example of authority would be the power that parents exercise over their children. Likewise, there is also the teacher’s authority over his students.

There are also religious authorities, which are individuals who hold high positions within a religious institution.

Authority, in general, is related to the concept of hierarchy. It is constituted in the power to command a person or a group of people, leading them to act in the way that is determined, with that it also constitutes the foundations for the responsibility.

In short, it is a relationship where there is one or more subordinates and a superior (authority).

Still within the subject of authority, we have the functional authority, which is an authority based on a specialization within a professional activity.

We also have moral authority , this refers to an authority coming from someone who is honest, upstanding and free from any suspicions. This is still an undeniable authority.

Finally, we still have the judicial authority or legal authority. This authority refers to the public person who uses the area of ​​law to enact orders and make himself obeyed.

Authority is therefore a form of domination, since it demands/requires the obedience of others. Without obedience, authority does not make any sense or have the intended effects. For example, if the teacher orders the students to shut up and they continue to make noise and disturb the proper functioning of the class, it means that the teacher is not being able to exercise her power of authority that she formally holds in the exercise of her duties. their teaching duties.

This means that, more than mere titles or polite formulas, authority is something that is exercised, and not exactly something that is used or flaunted. We may be faced with the paradox of authority without authority, as can happen in the case of the head of a company whose employees do not obey him. On the other hand, there are certain people who, although they do not have any formal positions, exercise authority (like, for example, a friend who has power and influence over our own decisions).

Not very recently, the term “authority” has also been used in marketing in order to define when a professional has authority in their market or even in a segment within that market.

There is also the use of the term authority to designate different subgroups of authorities, such as academic authority, punitive authority, organizational authority, spiritual authority, time authority , among others.

List of Acronyms Related to Authority