<P> In government , the term authority is often used interchangeably with power . However , their meanings differ : while power is defined as `` the ability to influence somebody to do something that he / she would not have done '' , authority refers to a claim of legitimacy , the justification and right to exercise that power . For example , while a mob has the power to punish a criminal , for example by lynching , people who believe in the rule of law consider that only a court of law has the authority to punish a criminal legally as the law says . </P>
which term is used to identify having official power to act
authority