Authority is in the hands of the individual, whether they are a policeman walking down the street, or a bus driver controlling who gets on the bus.
As American citizens we have the right to vote, but our voice is limited by the authoritarian like process of the electoral college.
Joel,
Both of these bring up interesting ideas, but the first is quite general and would need to be greatly focused to one specific kind of power play/situation. The second is much more focused, but would compel you to do quite a bit of research, and so would need more secondary sources, on top of the required Russell ones.