The politics behind the news, and the ideas that move nations.

A day of quiet politics

Do you take part in politics? Most students say no. Politics is for grown-ups, for people on the news, for elections. Then think about yesterday. Did your family decide who gets the television remote, or whose turn it is to wash the dishes? That was a decision about power. Did your class follow a rule you never agreed to, like a seating plan or a uniform? That was authority. Did a group of friends argue about where to go, and settle it by a vote, or by the loudest voice? That was a choice about how to decide.

So politics is not only in parliament. It is in every place where people who disagree must still live by one decision. A home. A class. A housing society. A country. The world. This course starts at home and walks out to the world, one step at a time.

What does your gut say?

Three quick questions before we begin. There is no score, and nothing leaves this page. At the end of the course you will see your first answers next to what you know by then.

How this course works

Four parts and 27 chapters, then a wrap-up, about 12 hours, at your own pace. Each chapter has:

• a story, something to try and a question to argue about,
• an "In short" box at the top, so you can see the main points first,
• a link into World 101, Learnacy's map of what the world knows, and sometimes a Learnacy Lab to play with,
• a note for your notebook, and
• a five-question check. Pass it with 4 right, as often as you need.

Pass every chapter check and the final round, and you get a certificate of completion with a link anyone can use to verify it.

Three promises. This course takes no side in party politics: no Indian party, candidate, leader or election is placed or judged, in a chapter or in a check. Every ideology is described first in the words of its own supporters, then in the words of its critics. And every war or dispute is described only through neutral facts, with no side judged. When an example is made up, it says so.

One rule for the whole course: principles before personalities. We will talk about ideas, systems and rules, not about which politician you like. Ask what a rule does and why, before you ask who made it.

Explore in World 101

This course draws on four fields of World 101: political science and governance, law and justice, global challenges, and history. Each part opens with three subjects to explore. Start now: open Power, Authority and Legitimacy, look around for five minutes, and note one question that catches you.

And when you want to see how policy is actually made in India, step by step, this course points you to Model NITI Aayog, One Young India's course on public policy. See the Model NITI Aayog course.

The smallest person on the field

Think of a football match on your school ground. Twenty-two players, most of them bigger and faster than the referee. The whistle blows for a foul. The player who was fouled stops. The player who did the fouling stops too, even though he is sure he did nothing wrong. Could the referee force them to stop? No. Could the players simply carry on? Yes. So why do they stop?

Because they accept that she has the right to decide. Not the strength. The right. That difference, between being able to make people do something and being accepted as the one who should decide, is one of the oldest questions in politics. Who decides? And why do the rest of us go along?

Power and authority

Power is the ability to make someone do what they would not otherwise do. A senior who pushes to the front of the canteen queue has power over the juniors behind him. Power does not need anyone's agreement.

Authority is power that people accept as rightful. The referee has authority. So does a teacher who sets homework, or a court that settles a dispute. You may dislike the decision, but you accept that this person, in this role, may make it.

What is the opposite of authority? Force: power that nobody accepts. And what is authority without power? A referee nobody listens to, and that does not last long. A government needs both. It needs the ability to carry out its decisions, and it needs most people to accept that it should be the one making them.

Legitimacy: why we accept authority

Why do people accept some authority and not other authority? Political scientists call that acceptance legitimacy. A rule is legitimate when the people who live under it believe it is rightful, even when they dislike a particular decision.

One classic account in political sociology describes three sources of legitimate authority. In plain words:

• Tradition: "it has always been done this way". A family elder, or a ruler whose family has always ruled.
• Personal appeal, often called charisma: people follow a leader because of who that person is.
• Rules and offices: people obey the office, not the person. The referee is obeyed because of the rulebook, and the next referee will be obeyed in just the same way.

Which one runs a modern democracy? Mostly the third. A prime minister or a president is obeyed because of the office and the rules that gave it to them, and must leave when the rules say so. That is why the rules about how power changes hands matter so much.

At home, your parents' authority may rest partly on tradition and partly on love. In a nation, the government's authority is meant to rest on rules: a constitution, elections and laws.

Power or authority?

Five made-up scenes. In each one, is someone using power alone, or authority that the others accept?

Consent: the idea under democracy

Why should anyone accept rules made by other people? One old answer is that people have, in some sense, agreed. Several European thinkers, centuries ago, called this the social contract: people give up some freedom to a government in return for order and protection, and the government's right to rule depends on that bargain. They drew very different conclusions from the same idea, from a strong ruler who keeps the peace to a people who may withdraw their consent.

Did you sign a social contract? No. Did anyone? No. So is it just a story? Partly. But it is a useful one. It says that a government's authority is borrowed, not owned. It is lent by the people, and the people can ask for it back. In a democracy, an election is the regular moment when they can.

I am not saying every rule you dislike is illegitimate. I am saying that "why should I obey this?" is a fair question, and a good government has an answer.

Should students have a say in school rules?

Many schools have a student council. Should students help make the rules they live by?

A hard case. A rule on phones in class. Students vote to allow them; teachers believe phones harm learning. Whose view should decide, and why?

Explore in World 101

Legitimacy is studied by political scientists, philosophers and historians. Open Power, Authority and Legitimacy in World 101 and follow one link that surprises you.