The crisis of authority
Article By Sabine Leitner
It seems that respect for authority is declining in many parts of the world. In 2001 half of all Americans said that they trusted the government to do what is right always or most of the time. In 2023, only 16% said the same. Hardly a day passes by without news about some abuse of power or position: former presidents in prison, ministers having to resign, princes losing all their titles, sexual abuse by church leaders… No wonder respect for authority is decreasing rapidly, which could potentially lead to a breakdown of society but could also be an opportunity for its transformation and evolution.
What exactly do we mean by authority? It is similar to power inasmuch as both refer to the ability to influence or control the behaviour of others; but unlike power on its own, which is based on some superior strength, authority is legitimate power in the sense that it is accepted by those who are subject to it and because people believe that the person or institution has the right to issue commands.
But when this belief becomes undermined because of corruption, abuse or broken promises, then authority loses its moral foundation, and people start to question the right to rule and rebel against what they no longer see as fair or beneficial.
Over time this will lead to an erosion of compliance and authority will gradually lose the power to command because people are no longer willing to accept it. Gandhi said: “When the people withdraw their consent, authority collapses.” This crisis of authority can eventually lead to instability, riots and a separation between power and authority. If authority lacks power, it loses its ability to enforce its will and essentially becomes ineffective or meaningless.
In this vacuum of power all too often raw power will arise. Raw power is not legitimate, it does not have authority, but it rules and controls because it is ‘stronger’, ‘has guns’ is ‘more numerous’, etc. Raw power can produce a reign of terror (think of military coups, mafias, drug cartels, terrorism, etc.) but it can also potentially lead to progressive change. History is full of examples where people questioned the legitimacy of authority and as a result laws, society and institutions changed.
To a certain extent it is a natural part of life that there will always be some form of conflict with authority. Oscar Wilde wrote: “Wherever there is a man who exercises authority, there is a man who resists authority.” There is a deep psychological tension between our own innermost and often unconscious desires and what external authority (parents, society, moral rules) expects from us. In order to live peacefully together, we have to control our instincts, have to compromise and cannot always get our way or do what we want; and this can lead to growing inner tension. For Freud, rebellion was the instinctive revolt against the inner ‘father figure’ that authority symbolizes.
However, it seems that there is not only a more instinctive wish to be free in every creature, but there is also a higher desire for freedom and autonomy in human beings. In fact, the idea that self-determination is the ultimate goal of all human beings – in other words the right to live freely according to one’s own reason – runs through much of Western philosophy. But are we truly ready to act wisely, in the best interest of ourselves, others and future generations? How much can we resist temptation? How incorruptible are we? We often choose vice over virtue when left to our own devices and it is much easier to acquire bad habits than good ones, and harder to break the bad ones than the good.
For the classical philosophers, only those were fit to govern who could govern themselves. For Plato, to be free was to be ruled by the best part of oneself. Epictetus said that “No man is free who is not master of himself.” For Cicero, the essence of freedom was moral self-government according to reason and nature. All these examples show that freedom in the classical sense meant mastery of oneself and not licentiousness.
Most Western people in the 21st century will not respect authority ‘out of tradition’ any more. Trust will need to be earned and justified by the combination of authority with moral authority. But we should be very careful with blind rebellion and with destroying our institutions too quickly, because it takes about 50-100 years to build new ones and, in the meantime, there is a lot of opportunity for violence, bloodshed and a “war of all against all” (Hobbes).If we take democracy seriously – in the sense that every citizen has the right to rule – then we must also prepare ourselves for the responsibilities of governance and strive to be truthful, just and accountable.
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Image References
Crisis by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free
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