All power has an initial beginning and some support, otherwise its effectiveness and influence on people lose their effectiveness. These initial principles in political science are called sources of power. From the point of view of the philosopher Max Weber, these foundations of power can be divided into three groups - force, or violence, tradition, or authority, and, finally, law. It is generally accepted that these three groups correspond to different stages of social development. Gradually, the importance of the first component decreases, and the third - increases. Thus, such a concept as “legitimacy of power” arises and develops . Over time, it is increasingly based on the rule of law.
From antiquity to the present, societies of various types demonstrate to us that the sources of power are very often force and its use, including physical violence. However, in every society, power based solely on violence was short-lived. In addition, power can mean very different concepts, for example, wealth or control over certain resources, relations with the people of the ruling clan, or information. From the most ancient times, power was also based on authority - it was better controlled by the one who had more knowledge, experience, who knew how to influence people. Authority could be reinforced by faith in a particular destiny, position or magical power of persons in power. At the same time, such sources of power as customs, the powers of certain people, limited by their functions or agreements, and also the will of certain sections of the population (democracy in ancient Greece or India) were already formed in slave-owning societies.
Although feudal society was characterized by an increased role for violence, nevertheless, in many respects it was based on customs and agreements, and also put forward the ideal of moral power. The source of the latter was not only belonging to the ruling elite and high origin, but also moral values, the ruler of which should serve as an example. This led to the fact that, starting the Renaissance, a good tone was to present violence and coercion in the guise of "protecting virtues." This testifies not only to political cynicism, but also to the fact that the legitimacy of power increasingly assumed a legal character. Sources of power since the time of the bourgeois revolutions in Europe, on the one hand, were based on violence, and on the other, expressed the will of the peoples.
When one of the essential sources of power is made not only traditions, authority and the will of the people, but also law and the social contract, the share of violence and coercion in public administration is significantly reduced. Caring for society, security and self-realization of its members, as well as stability and effectiveness of its social and economic system, become the main task of the authorities. Therefore, the use of force becomes residual and takes place as a last resort, and the priority for the modern type of government is to persuade the subjects to consciously and voluntarily fulfill the obligations of the contract. The sources of power in such a system are very diverse and have a wide base, giving the government greater legitimacy.
In the political system of society, an important role is also played by the resources of power, that is, the means and methods that it uses in order to achieve its goals. Such means, in addition to the apparatus of coercion, are ideology, economics, propaganda, and so on. The famous sociologist Alvin Toffler believes that at different stages of the development of society, the proportion of different types of resources also changed. If at first power prevailed, and with the development of trade and capital, wealth, then in modern society such resources are information and the person himself - his capabilities, education, image. Sources and resources of power are necessary components of its potential.