CHAPTER 10
Power and Political Behavior
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, the students will have achieved the following objectives:
• Understand a definition of power as being both an individual construct and an
organizational construct
• Distinguish the various type of authority and power
KEY TERMS
attitudinal conformity
behavioral conformity
charismatic authority
coercive power
expert power
legal authority
legitimate power
locus of control
Machiavellianism
need for power
political behavior
political interests
political process
power holder
power recipient
referent power
reward power
risk-seeking propensity
risk taking
traditional authority
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. Power Defined
A. Power and politics are inseparable in the criminal justice system.
2. The consequences of this belief can be injurious to the organizations as a whole.
B. Police organizations employ different types of power to gain compliance from
officers.
D. If organizational power is viewed as a product of exchange relationships in
organizations, we see how the interdependent nature of organizational tasks creates
power for some people.
E. Specific units within an organization are able to exhibit what is known as
interdepartmental power.
1. Power acquisition among criminal justice subunits is typically not based on how
well they can deal with uncertainties in their task environments.
2. What is important to criminal justice organizations is that they accomplish their
tasks in an efficient manner while simultaneously meeting the demands of the
public.
F. Key aspects of power in organizations
1. Power, says Tannenbaum, denotes that “a person or group of persons or
3. Power in an organization depends on how subunits deal with uncertainty and on
whether they meet the criteria of substitutability and centrality.
4. We differentiate between power and authority. Many have considered these terms
interchangeable, but doing so is not helpful to an understanding of the process of
power acquisition in organizations.
II. Types of Power and Authority
A. Weber delineated three types of authority
2. Charismatic: Founded on the personable attributes or actions (or both) of a
particular individual in an organization.
3. Legal: Based on an appeal to the formal rules and regulations of an organization.
It is rooted in the hierarchy and predicated on the expectation that subordinates
follow the orders and commands of those above them in the formal chain of
command.
B. The five bases of power in organizations
1. Reward power is based on the perception of the power recipient that the power
3. Legitimate power—the type most closely aligned to Weber’s concept of
4. Referent power is based on the identification of the power holder with the power
5. Expert power is based on the power recipient’s belief that the power holder has a
high level of expertise in a given area. This type of power is based on the
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“cognitive structure” of the power recipient and fosters the dependence of the
power recipient on the power holder.
C. Information is another source of power in organizations.
1. Individuals or groups may have power because of their ability to control the
information flow in the organization.
2. This power can be distinguished from expert power because it is derived from
one’s position and not from one’s knowledge.
D. Certain organizational subunits gain power by their ability to acquire critical
resources, such as outside grant and contract funds.
III. Consequences of Power Relations
A. After analyzing the relationship between types of social power and leadership
functions, Lord concluded that:
2. coercive power is highly related to facilitating evaluations, proposing solutions,
and total functional behavior.
B. Tifft determined that the type of power used in the various subunits of police
departments was dependent on the type of function the subunit performed.
C. Stojkovic found five types of social power among prisoners.
1. Coercive power was employed by prisoners in the inmate social system to gain
“respect.”
3. Legitimate power rested with those inmates who were older and had longer
periods of confinement.
5. Expert power was found among those prisoners who were knowledgeable about
the legal system and could provide legal assistance to other prisoners.
D. Earlier research on correctional organizations was premised on perceptions of power
and did not examine how power is manifested.
1. Smith, et. al. found that that this distinction is both critical and important to
organizations.
2. For example, probationer’s perception of probation officer power did not correlate
to their level of compliance with conditions.
E. For criminal justice administrators, the key issue is recognizing the correct type of
power for the situation.
F. Researchers have also call for the loosening of the police organization structure to
make it receptive to the changing role of police in society.
G. To summarize, social bases of power vary from organization to organization and
certain structural characteristics affect the types of power within an organization.
IV. The Legitimacy of Power and Political Behavior
A. Tosi, Rizzo, and Carroll: “. . . when legitimate authority fails, political behavior
arises.”
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2. Political behavior exists when there is:
a. a lack of consensus among members about goals
b. disagreement over the means to achieve goals
c. anxiety about resource allocation
B. Within criminal justice organizations, the political process is the accepted mechanism
to address matters.
C. Dalton suggests that with the diffusion of types of power in organizations there is a
concomitant rise of powerful cliques or coalitions.
1. These cliques defend their members in response to various threats to
organizational autonomy.
2. Pfeffer points out that such cliques and coalitions are highly political, relying on
various strategies to advance their own purposes and causes over those of other
coalitions in the organization.
D. Schlager studied how organizational politics can undermine even the most effective
methods of supervising offenders in the community.
2. As such, she concluded that no new approach to criminal justice operates in a
vacuum; rather, politics are very much a part of the process.
E. Hellriegel, Slocum, and Woodman suggest that four personality traits make people
prone to exercising political behaviors in organizations.
3. The need for power: Leaders who seek to simply dominate others through
4. Machiavellianism: Predicated on the ideas of manipulation and deceit, this trait
5. Locus of control: Refers to individuals whose high internal locus causes their
belief that they are able to control and influence people and their surroundings.
6. Risk-seeking propensity: These leaders view risk-taking as a necessity within a
politically charged organization.
V. Effective Types of Power
A. The exercise of:
2. reward and coercive power may lead to acceptance if the power is used for some
legitimate purpose; and
3. reward and coercive power may lead to two dysfunctional effects—learned
helplessness and resistance—if the power is used for illegitimate purposes.
B. Much of what we know about social systems in prisons can be tied to the illegitimacy
of current types of power exercised by both corrections administrators and officers.
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C. The inmate social system may represent a counterforce to the power of those in
command of the organization.
D. The types of power traditionally associated with the traditional police structure are, in
part, the cause of resistance, most notably the development of a police counterforce
and departures from the organization.
E. The future of criminal justice administration hinges to a great degree on how
legitimacy will be gained from both subordinates and the general public.
2. Other bases of power would seem to be conducive to criminal justice
management.
F. Some suggest that politics is too invasive and pervasive in criminal justice
organizations.
1. This circumstance impedes the ability of administrators and managers to do their
jobs effectively.
3. Criminal justice administrators must develop and hone political skills to protect
organizational turf while attending to organizational concerns.
4. This creates a fundamental disjuncture between:
a. The interests of employees (typically centered on accomplishing tasks)
b. The interests of administrators (centered on the political concerns of their
bosses or significant others)
c. Effective criminal justice administration means being sensitive not only to the
political demands of external interests, but showing concern for the
constraints and difficulties experienced by subordinates.
G. Criminal justice subordinates are public employees with significant rights as defined
through labor negotiations.
2. Administrators have an obligation to promote the best possible strategy to
achieve their missions and visions.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
This chapter described types of authority and power in organizations and how they produce
specific consequences for organizational members. Power and politics are inseparable in the
criminal justice system. To criminal justice employees it often seems that the power is used
organizations. These types of power were legitimate, expert, and referent. But they can be
effective as compliance mechanisms only when other key issues of goal consensus, means to
achieve goals and resource allocation are addressed. Earlier research on correctional
organizations was premised on perceptions of power and did not examine how power is
manifested. Smith, et. al. found that that this distinction is both critical and important to
organizations. For criminal justice administrators, the key issue is recognizing the correct type of
power for the situation.
We suggested that a proper compliance structure may not yet exist for many agencies of
criminal justice. Given the nature of their tasks and the expectations of society, criminal justice
management must decide on proper compliance structures for their organizations. Finally,
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Of the types of power described in this chapter, which do you think is the most relevant
to a specific agency of the criminal justice system? Are the types of power exhaustive or
can you think of others besides the French and Raven typology presented here? Describe
3. Distinguish between power and authority. Do you believe the foundation of criminal
justice organizations is power or authority? Why? Give examples in everyday criminal
4. Discuss the role of politics in criminal justice organizations. Is politics critical to these
organizations, and, if so, how should it be controlled? Is it true, as Norton Long said
years ago, that “politics is the lifeblood of administration” in public agencies like
criminal justice organizations? Comment on the relevance of power to criminal justice
5. Think of the prison as a criminal justice organization. How does political power play out
among line staff, supervisors and administrators? Do inmates participate in the political
structure?
DISCUSSION TOPICS/STUDENT ACTIVITIES
1. Form the students into three groups. Give the groups 20 minutes to analyze the case study
on pages 306 and 307 of the text (Does Knowledge Matter in the Face of Political Power:
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The Case of Check Cashing Establishments and Crime). Assign each group the
responsibility to develop and present a response to one of the case study questions. As the
groups report, facilitate discussions that relate to the chapter objectives and key words.
2. Have the students discuss the benefits of and problems with using the Machiavellian
approach when managing police officers.
4. Have the students discuss theories of motivation that relate directly to French and Raven’s
list of power sources.
5. Discuss how politics can play a role in budgeting. Select, or have the students elect, a
board of 5 students to act as the city/state commissioners who allocate funds to criminal
INTERNET CONNECTIONS
2. Access Patricia A. Wilson’s Journal of Management article entitled “The Effects of
3. Access Stephen Day and Shekhar Tiwari’s International Ventures Associates, Ltd. article
4. Navigate to Michigan State University’s Criminal Justice web site and read Dr. David
5. Access the Buffalo Law Review web site and read Ahmed A. White’s essay on political