ABSTRACT
The ‘crisis of authority’ is an expression which a social critic is often likely to use simply because it seems a convenient way of describing the restlessness and rootlessness, relativism, and lack of clear-cut social distinctions, that are characteristic of the modern world. ‘Crisis of authority’ appears to be a useful term when the authority represents either the constitution or the sovereign power. Theorists often discuss ‘obligation’ purely in terms of authority rather than the norms which legitimize the authority. The concept of sovereignty, on the other hand, demands a concept of the state as distinct from the community. ‘Authority’ or ‘supreme authority’ are also attractive as substitutes for ‘sovereignty’ to those who regard the state as an orderly hierarchy of rules observed by its members.
