Chapter Ten – Power and
Political Behavior
 Understand a definition of power as being both an
individual construct and an organizational construct.
 Distinguish the various types of authority and power.
 Comprehend the consequences of power relations
within criminal justice organizations.
 Grasp the importance of expressing power and
political behavior among criminal justice
administrators.
 Describe effective types of power within criminal
justice agencies.
 Power exists in relationships.
o Individuals and organizational units that are able to
deal with environmental uncertainty and instability
often possess more power.
o In stable environments, like criminal justice
organizations, power is possessed by the most efficient
or effective individuals and groups.
 Power exists in people and the jobs they do.
o Individuals or groups that cannot easily be replaced
tend to be more powerful.
 Power resides in the individuals or groups who determine
what other persons, groups or organizations do.
 Power relationships exist between organizational units and
at the interpersonal level.
 Power depends on:
o The ability to deal with uncertainties facing the
organization,
o Whether an individual or group function can easily be
replaced (substitutability), and
o The importance of an individual or group function to
the organization’s overall mission (centrality).
 Terms are often used interchangeably.
 Difference is in the perceived legitimacy of
their use.
 Authority is generally perceived to be a
legitimate use of power.
 Power may be used to influence the
behavior of others even without legitimate
authority.
 Distinguished between power and authority.
o Power – based on coercion, not compliance. Often
used in organizations emphasizing strict obedience.
o Authority – compliance with the directives
necessary for achieving a common or shared goal.
 Weber’s Three Types of Authority
o Traditional – vested in the position held by a
person.
o Charismatic – found in the personal attributes of a
particular individual or organization.
o Legal – based on the formal rules and regulations
of an organization.
 Power exists in the interaction between the
o Power holder – the person who expresses the power,
and
o Power recipient – the person who receives the power.
 Five bases of power in all organizations.
o
o
o
o
o
Reward – Power holder can grant remuneration.
Coercive – Failure to follow orders will result in punishment.
Legitimate – Power holder actually has this authority.
Referent – Based on the recipient’s attraction to the holder.
Expert – based on the recipient’s belief that the power
holder has a high level of expertise.
 Power can also be acquired by individuals or
groups within organizations that:
o Control information in the organization
(Pfeffer, 1977)
o Acquire resources for the organization
(Salancik and Pfeffer, 1977)
 Power does not exist in a vacuum.
 Power is contextually defined within individual
and/or organizational interactions.
 Consequences of power relations within
organization are along two dimensions:
o Behavioral conformity, and
o Attitudinal conformity.
 Types of power are not equally effective in every
situation.
 Among inmates, Stojkovic (1984, 1986) found five
types of social power.
o Coercive – used by prisoners to gain ‘respect’.
o Referent – power often used by religious groups.
o Legitimate – rests with older and longer confined
inmates.
o Provision of resources – developed by inmates who
are able to ‘import’ and distribute contraband.
o Expert – prisoners who are knowledgeable about legal
systems and case law.
 Social bases of power are more limited among correctional
officers. Stojkovic identifies three:
o Coercive
o Reward
o Access to information
 These bases of power are often eroded by:
o Interactions with inmates who are themselves attempting to
gain power.
o Changes in the demographics of prison populations.
o Changes in the way correctional officers are encouraged, or
even allowed, to do their jobs.
 Political behavior – actions that promote individual goals over
organizational goals.
 More likely in criminal justice organizations when
o A lack of consensus among members about goals,
o Disagreement over the means to achieve goals, or
o Anxiety about resource allocation.
 Often necessary in criminal justice agencies to
o Secure adequate resources through the budget process.
o Seek the legal authority to respond to an emerging crime
trend.
o Create or recreate an organization’s mission and values
statements.
 The political process in criminal justice agencies can be used;
o Legitimately – if the agency adheres to its mission and
values
• To refocus the organization’s attention on an important
and emerging social trend, e.g. terrorism
• To define or redefine the organization’s mission and
vision.
o Illegitimately – if the agency departs from its mission and
becomes self-serving.
• When individuals within the organization use agency
resources and power to satisfy their personal needs.
• When the organization attempts to resist a legitimate
attempt to become more relevant.
 Critical question – What types of power are
criminal justice employees most likely to
consider legitimate?
o The effectiveness of power is highly dependent
upon its acceptance within the organization.
o Even legitimate power can be ineffective if
subordinate employees disregard their leader’s
legitimacy.
 Legitimate, charismatic and expert power are more
universally accepted.
 Reward and coercive power can be effective if used
for a legitimate purpose
 Reward and coercive power may lead to
dysfunctional effects if used illegitimately.
o Learned helplessness (psychological
dependence), or
o Resistance (psychological withdrawal).
 Power can be understood and exhibited at both the
individual and organizational levels.
 Power and authority are not the same thing.
 Weber identifies three types of power – traditional,
charismatic and legal.
 French and Raven identify five types of power – coercive,
reward, legitimate, referent and expert.
 Other researchers include the control of information and
access to resources as sources of power.
 Power relationships within organizations can be defined
along two dimensions – behavioral conformity and
attitudinal conformity.
 Different expressions of power will have different impacts
on organizations.
 There is a relationship between legitimacy and political
behavior in criminal justice organizations.
 The political process is not inherently bad for criminal
justice administrators. In fact, in many cases the political
process is how things get done in criminal justice
organizations.
 While driving home one evening the District Attorney of a rural
Midwestern county is injured when his vehicle strikes a deer.
 This is the third time this DA has hit a deer on the roadway.
 He decides that the excessive deer population in his county is a
threat to public safety. His appeals to the state wildlife agency
for assistance (increasing the hunting limits) are unanswered.
 The following week the DA issues a press release informing the
public that his office will no longer accept poaching cases
involving deer.
 Because game poaching cases must be prosecuted by his office,
this action effectively eliminates deer hunting limits in his
county.
 Does the District Attorney have the power or
authority to make this decision?
 What type of power or authority is the District
Attorney exercising?
 Given what you know about the consequences of
power, what are the possible effects of the District
Attorney’s actions?