There are many differences between power and authority, with the significant differences being the nature of the terms and the differing types of each concept. The first of these differences being the nature of the concepts of power and authority, the second, the sources from which each derives the power/authority, and finally, the many types of each concept. The types of power to be addressed are social power, cultural power, economic power, political power and lastly, legal power. The different types of authority include customary authority, statutory authority, common law authority and delegated authority.

Power is defined simply as the ability to control and/or influence people and resources. This definition can bring about a negative connotation or understanding of the term, depicting power as an unscrupulous or even wicked concept. Apart from this negative aspect of power, it does have its fair share of positive characteristics...