1.5 - Sources of Power and Authority
Political regimes draw legitimacy and control from a mix of different sources, and which combination they rely on depends on their political context and history.
The Major Sources
- Constitutions: written or unwritten rules that establish government structure and limits, giving legal legitimacy
- Religious authority: religious institutions or law that justify political power, often claiming divine sanction
- Military forces: armed forces that enforce decisions and defend the regime, providing coercive power
- Political parties: organizations that mobilize support, control government positions, and push policy agendas
- Legislatures: representative bodies that make laws and provide legitimacy through participation
- Popular support: citizens accepting or endorsing the regime, which provides democratic legitimacy and stability
Country Examples
China keeps direct Communist Party control over the military, unlike most democracies where the military serves the state rather than a party. The People's Liberation Army answers to the party, not the state, which prevents any military challenge to regime stability. This is part of why the party survived the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, since the military followed party orders to suppress the demonstrations.
The party commands the army through the Central Military Commission, which Xi Jinping chairs. That control lets the party discipline even the top generals: in October 2025 it expelled He Weidong, a vice chairman of the commission, and in January 2026 it put Zhang Youxia, the army's highest-ranking general, under investigation.
Iran transitioned after the 1979 Revolution from dictatorial rule under the Shah to a theocracy grounded in Islamic Sharia law. Religious authority replaced monarchical authority, clerics gained ultimate political power, Sharia became the basis for legislation, and the Supreme Leader position was created requiring religious credentials. The regime's legitimacy now comes from religion, with the Supreme Leader holding more power than elected officials.
Nigeria went through military rule from 1983 to 1999 before transitioning to a multiparty democratic republic. Military coercion as a power source gave way to electoral legitimacy, competitive parties replaced single military leadership, constitutional authority was reestablished, and the legislature gained independent power. Nigeria's Fourth Republic, since 1999, runs on constitutional rules, regular elections, and popular support, though fully consolidating democracy is still a work in progress.
Since 2015 the All Progressives Congress (APC) has held the presidency, first under Muhammadu Buhari and, since 2023, Bola Tinubu, who won with about 37% of the vote on a turnout of about 27%. The next general election is scheduled for January 16, 2027.
Mexico was dominated by a single party, the PRI, for 71 years (1929 to 2000), before real multiparty competition emerged. Single-party control was maintained through patronage and electoral manipulation, but reforms in the 1990s allowed real opposition, and the 2000 election win by the PAN marked the transition. Authority now comes from competitive elections rather than one party's monopoly.
Since 2018, Morena, the party Andrés Manuel López Obrador founded, has dominated Mexican politics. López Obrador won the presidency in 2018, Claudia Sheinbaum won it in 2024 with about 60% of the vote, and Morena and its allies won a two-thirds supermajority in the Chamber of Deputies, enough to change the constitution. Elections are still competitive, but some analysts worry Mexico is drifting back toward single-party dominance.
Russia has a system where political elites back a strong presidency, creating what's often called managed democracy, with election rules favoring the dominant party. Presidential authority is backed by security services and business elites, elections are held but structured toward preferred outcomes, and United Russia benefits from state resources and media while opposition faces legal obstacles and harassment.
The 2020 constitutional amendments reset Putin's term count, so he can stay president until 2036, and he won the 2024 presidential election with about 87% of the official vote. In the September 2026 Duma election, United Russia won 349 of the 450 seats, its biggest total ever, and the other four parties that won party-list seats all belong to the "systemic opposition," parties that criticize the government on some issues but don't challenge Putin.
The United Kingdom used constitutional reforms to devolve power from the central Parliament to separate parliaments in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This let regional parliaments handle local governance while the central Parliament kept overall authority, accommodating nationalist sentiment and adding constitutional flexibility without breaking apart the regime.
Voters in Scotland and Wales approved devolution in 1997 referendums, and the Northern Ireland Assembly came out of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. All three devolved bodies (the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd or Welsh Parliament, and the Northern Ireland Assembly) got their powers in 1999.
Key takeaway: regimes draw on multiple sources of power at once, and these sources shift over time. Successful regimes adapt, whether through military control, religious legitimacy, constitutional reform, party dominance, or popular support, and the balance among these sources shapes how stable and how characterized a regime becomes.