Table of Contents
Definition of Hierarchy of Authority
(noun) A clear chain of command found in organizations.
Hierarchy of Authority Pronunciation
Syllabification: hi·er·ar·chy of au·thor·i·ty
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /hIE-uhr-rahr-kee uhv uh-thOR-uh-tee/
- British English – /hIE-uh-rah-kee UHv aw-thOr-i-tee/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈhaɪˌrɑrki ʌv əˈθɔrəti/
- British English – /ˈhaɪərɑːki ɒv ɔːˈθɒrɪti/
Usage Notes
- Plurals:
- hierarchies of authority
- hierarchy of authorities
- A type of authority.
- Informally called pecking order.
Related Quotation
- “There is an ordering of versions of femininity and masculinity at the level of the whole society, in some ways analogous to the patterns of face-to-face relations with institution. the possibilities of variation, of course, are vastly greater. The sheer complexity of relationships involving millions of people guarantees that ethnic differences and generational differences as well as class patterns come into play. But in key aspects the organization of gender on the very large scale must be more skeletal and simplified than the human relationships in face-to-face milieux. The forms of femininity and masculinity constituted at this level are stylized and impoverished. Their interrelation is centred on the single structural fact, the global dominance of men over women” (Connell 1987:183).
Related Video
Additional Information
- Word origin of “hierarchy” and “authority” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Giddens, Anthony. 1973. The Class Structure of the Advanced Societies. London: Hutchinson.
- Grusky, David B., ed. 2014. Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective. 4th ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
- Kerbo, Harold Ray. 2012. Social Stratification and Inequality: Class Conflict in Historical, Comparative, and Global Perspective. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. 1848. The Communist Manifesto.
- Massey, Douglas S. 2007. Categorically Unequal: The American Stratification System. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Related Terms
- authority
- bureaucracy
- clear division of labor
- explicit rules
- impersonality
- McDonaldization
- organization
- total institution
Reference
Connell, R. W. 1987. Gender and Power: Society, the Person, and Sexual Politics. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Works Consulted
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Hierarchy of Authority
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “hierarchy of authority.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/hierarchy-of-authority/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
hierarchy of authority. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/hierarchy-of-authority/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “hierarchy of authority.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/hierarchy-of-authority/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“hierarchy of authority.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/hierarchy-of-authority/>.