Participative authority is even more democratic than consultative, and this is because this style of authority strongly relates to the laissez faire leadership style in which there is no definite leader and everyone has as much authority as each other. This type of style is very hard to control and organise as it’s considered a free for all. This style relies on the whole team to come to a joint decision on what to do and how to do it, which can prove to be a lengthy process, however members in team that uses this style of authority will always equal and fairly treated. This style is never used within the public services because of the time constraints and type of work being undertaken by them.
Nature of authority in relation to the uniformed public services
Authority within the uniformed public services is very complex because it comes in so many different forms. There many different types of teams and organisations who use different types of authority because of the way the team works, the experience of the members and their duties and responsibilities.
One of the ways in which authority can be shown in the uniformed public services is by power; this can be shown by a person’s position or rank in the uniformed public services. To gain power in the uniformed public services you need to work your way up through the ranks to gain a higher place in the hierarchy, and the higher in the hierarchy you are the more responsibilities and tasks you are given and the more people you become in charge of. An example of this would be a sergeant in the Army who has been in for 12-13 years, and his responsibilities are for the discipline and supply of his platoon whereas a young Private with maybe 1-2 years experience would only be responsible for himself and his kit, because of his little experience he has little power or responsibility.
Another way in which authority can be shown in the uniformed public services is by the person’s position, however this doesn’t stand alone it is linked to power. All of the uniformed public services have a rank system and structure, this so people know their place indefinitely within the structure
Status is also a way in which authority can be shown in the uniformed public services however this is almost the same as position. When people from different uniformed public services come together their positions are often blurred, this is because in the different structures they have a different ways of ranking their team. This can be shown when the police force and army work together, for example what a police constable may think of their Chief Inspector, a solider may think the complete opposite and have no respect for them, and also visa versa.
The influence of which the person who holds the authority within a team can have a huge effect upon how his or her team respond and act towards them. When a person with a high rank or has a lot of authority they can influence the way in which individuals think without trying to enforce it, this is because the individual would have a huge amount of respect for them and would respect their views. They may have influenced the individual because of their knowledge, or charisma, or past achievements or expertise.
Corruption is an important part authority because if somebody in the uniformed public service is corrupt then he or she would need to be punished. Corruption can take place in all of the uniformed public services and can take any number of forms. Corruption can also happen for many different reasons such as a lack of authority or a lack of an individual’s self-discipline. As in any walk of life corruption sometimes unfortunately takes place in the public services. An example of this Policemen accepting bribes to turn a blind eye, this is usually because policemen don’t want to have to do the follow up work to convicting the said criminal, and will accept payment to turn a blind eye, this usually takes place when the crime is to do with money laundering and drug dealing.
Finally disobedience is a factor of authority because if a member of the uniformed public service is disobedient and refuses to follow out an order, then they will have disciplinary action taken upon them and put themselves and the members of their team possibly at risk. If this situation was to occur then hopefully the disciplinary action would make an effect to the way in which the person previously acted, and would also put off others from repeating what he or she did. For example if a soldier disobeys the simple order to shave in the field and then come under chemical attack, their gas mask may not work due to the face that the mask may not seal, so not only have they become a casualty they put their co-workers at risk because if their team being a man down.
Explain the Importance of Recognising Authority and the Consequences of a Lack of Authority within the Uniformed Public Services
It is important for people within the uniformed public services to recognise authority, however sometimes this authority can be abused, or there can be a lack of it which can lead to serious and even dangerous consequences. Members of the uniformed public services need to be able to tell the difference between the morale right to give out an order and the power to give out an order. However these two can get mixed up sometimes the use of authority in history has been abused wrongly and due to people who are been subjected to the authority obey there orders even though they go against the normal moral code.
In the Mai Lai Massacre hundreds or civilians were sexually abused and beaten to death by the US forces. This brought an outrange to the civilians back home, and just goes to prove that when the wrong people get hold of power and mix it with authority disasters can happen. When there is a lack of authority in the uniformed public services it can lead to corrupt members within the services and there will be many consequences for what the corrupt members do.
Corrupt members will appear in the uniformed public services when there is a lack of authority; this is because they reckon that they can get away with more things. It will normally start off with little things, just for a laugh, however this will build and build and they will get other members involved due to peer pressure, and you can just imagine how this will escalate. It doesn’t just have to be a corrupt member of the uniformed public service it could also be the leader, and this is the worst situation. If the uniformed public services had a corrupt leader then there company or platoon are also likely to be corrupt, this is because the members of the uniformed public services are highly discipline and would use blind obedience to carry out the orders given. Also if the leader had a lack of authority over his or her company or platoon then this would lead to boredom from the companies or platoons members causing them to ‘muck about’ and this may lead to them doing corrupt actions.
Members of the uniformed public services need to recognise authority so that they can work as effectively and efficiently as possible and this is done through rank and tradition. If they didn’t recognise authority then they wouldn’t know who to take an order from which can lead to many mistakes happening e.g. following the wrong orders and making the wrong decisions of whom to follow.
Another way in which members of the uniformed public services can recognise authority is by following the codes of discipline (Queens Regulations) and the codes of conduct. By members following these codes it makes the uniformed public services more obedient as these rules must be obeyed. It allows for them to show that they are discipline and they know and understand who they should be taking orders from.
When there is a lack of authority some of the uniformed public services have set up a complaints commission, which for example in the police force is the IPCC (Independent Police Complaints Commission). This helps to combat any holes which the uniformed public service may have as it enables them to look over where they went wrong and how to improve it.
A consequence of a lack of authority in the uniformed public services can be the way in which the media end up portraying it to the public. When a story gets published about the uniformed public services the public usually have a high interest in what it’s about as it can sometimes end up affecting them. This would end up in the uniformed public services losing the publics trust, which can affect many other things such as fund raising schemes etc.
By losing the publics trust it would also affect the communication links which the uniformed public services have, as many people wouldn’t want to co-operate anymore. The public would fear the uniformed public services as they would be scared about this happening again or even to themselves. This would make the members of the uniformed public services job very hard as they would need to build back up the trust to create these links again.
Another consequence for lack of authority in the uniformed public services would be the punishment which they would get from the uniformed public service. The punishment in which they would receive would depend on how corrupt they were, it could be anything from doing laps to being kicked out of the uniformed public services. For example if there was a repeat of what happened in the My Lai Massacre then nowadays they would be kicked out of the uniformed public services as this would be abusing peoples human rights.