Educational Administration
EDU 547
Chapter VI
Power and Politics in School
Presented by: Kathleen Merchant
Instructor: Dr. Lauren Larsen
Power
Classical
“is the ability to get others to do what you want
them to do
Weber (1947, p. 152)
“the probability that one actor within a social
relationship will be in a position to carry out his
own will despite resistance”
Power for the purpose
of this chapter-is a
general and
comprehensive term
“control that is starkly coercive as well as control
that is based on nonthreatening persuasion and
suggestion “
On the other hand
“authority” has a
narrower scope.
Weber (1947, p. 324)
“as the probability that certain specific commands
(or all commands) from a given source will be
obeyed by a given group of persons”
Sources of Authority: Legitimate Power
o Authority is distinguished from other kinds of influences or
power in that the subordinates “holds abeyance his own critical
faculties for choosing between alternatives and uses the formal
criterion of the receipt of a command or signal as his basis of
choice”
o There are two criteria of authority in schools that are imperative
in the relationships of superior-subordinate
o Three primary characteristics of authority in schools:
• Willingness of subordinates to comply
• Suspension of the subordinates’ criteria for making a decision before a
decision
• Power relationship legitimized by the norms of a group
Sources of Authority-Sources of Authority
Types of Authority-Weber (1947)
Definition
1.
Charismatic authority
Is premised on devotion to an exceptional individual who is leader by
virtue of personal trust/exemplary qualities.
2.
Traditional authority
Is anchored in an established belief in the sanctity of the status of those
exercising authority in the past.
3.
Legal authority
Is based on enacted laws that can be changed by formally correct
procedures
Extension of the basic concepts of authority
Robert Peabody ( 1962)-distinguishes the bases of
formal authority-legitimacy and position-from the
bases of functional authority-competence and
personal or human relations skills, whereas Blau
and Scott (1962, 2003;Scott, 2003)-simply
describe the authority relation as “formal” and
“informal” which depends on the source of
legitimacy for the power
4. Formal authority
Is vested in the organization and is legally established in positions, rules
and regulations.
5. Functional authority
Has a variety of sources, including authority of competence and authority
of the person
6. Informal authority
Is a source of legitimate control stemming from personal behavior and
attributes of individuals
Authority and Administrative Behavior in
Schools
o Authority is a basic element of life in schools because it
provides legitimate control for the following individuals;
administrators, teachers, and students
o Once administrators, teachers and students join a school
organization they accept the formal authority relation
Sources of Power
o Even though authority implies legitimacy, not all
power is legitimate
Individuals/groups can utilize power in many different
ways
Sources of Power
1. Reward
Power
2. Coercive
Power
4. Referent
Power
3. Legitimate
Power
5. Expert
Power
Administrative Use of Power
o An enormous portion of any administrator's time is directed
at “power oriented” behavior that is- “behavior directed mainly
at developing or using relationships in which other people are to
some degree willing to defer to one’s wishes” (Kotter, 1978, p.
27).
o Empowerment –is the process by which administrators
share power and assist others with the utilization of
constructive ways to make decisions
Note*evidence is starting to emerge to demonstrate that teacher
empowerment as it relates to curricular matter is connected to
student performance
Mintzberg’s Perspective on Power
Mintzberg’s Internal Power Systems-all basic sources of controlling the life within an organization
(Four)
1. System of Authority
2. System of Ideology
•Is the formal flow of the power through legitimate channels that enable the
organization to achieve its formal goals
•Personal control-giving orders, setting the premise for decision making,
reviewing decisions and allocating resources
•Bureaucratic control-lies on the imposition of impersonal standards used to
guide the general behavior of teachers across a whole array of areas (e.g.
lunch schedule, start of the word day)
(Climate and Culture)
• Is a set of non-formal agreements amongst teachers about the school
and its relationship to other groups which emerges as the school
develops its culture
3. System of Expertise
• Is the interaction between experts/professionals to solve critical
unforeseen events that the organization may confront(e.g. faced with
the challenging tasks of teaching and learning schools will opt to hire
specialists (e.g. teachers psychologists and administrators
4. System of Politics
• Is the network of organizational politics, which does not have the
authority of the three previously mentioned systems of power
• Lacks the accord and order –can be described as a set of games people
power holders play
Effective Administrators
Four Must
Haves for
Effective
Administrators
Extend your
system of
authority;
formal
authority is not
sufficient for
leadership
Tap into system
of ideology;
organization
culture and
informal
organization
are other
sources of
authority
Tap into
systems of
expertise;
empower
teachers by
availing
yourself of their
knowledge
Know and
understand the
system of
politics ;limit it
A Comparison and Synthesis of Power
Perspectives
Sources of Power
Legitimacy of
Power
Legitimate
Formal
Informal
Illegitimate
Formal
Authority
Coercive Power
Informal
Authority
Political Power
Power, Rationality, and Rationalization
o Power often blurs the difference between rationality and
rationalization
• Rationality-is the application of evidence and reason to make decisions
• Rationalization-is an attempt to make a decision seem rational after it
has already been made
o In short-we cannot get away from the fact that a great deal of
organizational behavior is irrational and power frequently undermines
rationality
**Refer to the questions in the text on page 235, which were raised by
Flyvbjerg
Organizational Power and Politics
o Organizational politics-is “individual or group behavior that is informal,
ostensibly, parichial,typically diverse, and above all, in the technical sense,
illegitimate-sanctioned neither by authority,accepted ideology, nor certified
expertise”(Mintzberg, 1983a, p. 172)
o Even though there are powerful individuals, the political ring of organizations
are composed of coalitions of persons-groups who negotiate amongst
themselves to make a determination on how to distribute power
Organizational Power and Politics
Coalitions
External Coalitions
Internal Coalitions
1. Personalized internal
1. Dominated external
coalition
coalition
2. Bureaucratic internal
coalition
2. Divided external
coalition
3. Ideological internal
coalition
4. Professional internal
3. Passive external
coalition
coalition
5. Politicized internal
coalition
The Power Game
o Power is an elusive of negotiating advantages and then when
willingly and skillfully exploiting those bargaining advantages
o There is no guarantee that those persons who gain power will
utilize it in a rational or justified manner, however; power and
politics are not always demeaning and destructive
Power Game
Political Tactics
1. Ingratiating
3. Information
Management
6. Scapegoating
2. Networking
5. Coalition Building
4. Impression
management
7. Increasing
indispensability
Power Games
Political Games
1. Insurgency games
• Usually played to resist authority-they range from
resistance to sabotage
• Utilized by individuals to build a power base
2. Power-building games
3.Rival games
4. Change games
• Sponsorship games-subordinate attaches oneself to a
superior and professes loyalty
• Utilized to defeat competitors
• Utilized to alter the organization or its practices
Conflict Management
o Since power and organizational politics certainly produce
conflict-it is important to effectively manage conflict when it
arises
o Conflict is neither bad or destructive, on the contrary conflict can
produce positive organizational change
Conflict Management Styles
o Kenneth Thomas provided a useful topology for examining
conflict management styles, he also identified two basic
dimensions of behavior that may produce conflict:
• Attempting to satisfy one’s concern(organizational demands in the case of
administrators
• Attempting to satisfy others’ concerns(individuals needs of the members)
Conflict Management Styles
1. Avoiding style-is both unassertive and
uncooperative, the administrator ignores,
conflict , hoping that it will remedy itself
2. Compromising style-is a balance
between the needs of the
organization and those of the
individuals, focuses on negotiating
3. Competitive style- creates win loose
situations , the administrator is
assertive and uncooperative in the
attempts to resolve conflict .Power is
utilized to achieve submission-to win
4. Accommodating style- is assertive
and cooperative the administrator
gives into the demands of the
administrator
5. Collaborating style- is assertive and
cooperative, this is a problem
approach. Problems and conflicts are
viewed as challenges
Words for Thought
o A man who neglects what is actually done for what should be
done learns the way to self-destruction.” Machiavelli ( 1994)
We need to see and understand organizational life as it is so that
we have some chance to move toward what we believe it should
be; hence, power and politics cannot be neglected.