Legitimate authority Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Legitimate authority - Essay Example The author talks about principles and students and so on â€Å"accepting† the rules of schools, and entering an â€Å"agreement† with schools and other institutions. The words â€Å"accept† and â€Å"agreement† both work under means the person, such as the student or the principle, has a choice whether they want to be part of the school or not, and that by choosing to do so they agree that all authority above them is legitimate. But students are often forced without their choice by law to attend schools until a certain age, and the school they attend is decided by the where they live or what their parents tell them to do rather than their own choice. So legitimate authority, as the author talks about it involving choice, cannot function for the students; if they need to â€Å"accept† and â€Å"agree† for authority to be legitimate, as the author says, they should be able to say that none of the authority above them is legitimate, because they did not accept or agree to it.This essay does not intend to say that the organization of teachers, administrators and so on are not legitimate forms of authority, but rather that choice to be part of an organization cannot be part of forming legitimate authority in school environments. This means that other structures have to stand to take their place, for instance, the ability to appeal decisions a student or parent questions because coercive forces work on subordinates in school relationships without them having a choice.