Abuse of Power, Putin vs Obama and the Crimea Research Paper

Abuse of Power, Putin vs Obama and the Crimea - Research Paper Example The attainment of this power and subsequently its execution takes place on a clearly spelt out constitutional framework of legislation (Hornstein, 2003, p.11). In this regard, economic power may be termed legitimate when it is implemented by either commercial or industrial enterprises which are constituted following the law of the state in which they operate. Whenever power exist, there will be power abuse (Dubber, 2005, p.33). This explains the reason why it becomes difficult to define power except when related to the abuse in which it is exposed to. A number of terms and expressions have therefore been developed to express this concept of power abuse. Terms like power misappropriation and thirst for power have been extensively used. Numerous debates have been organized to discuss this concept of power abuse and one significant fact that has come out is that it is both vast and vague (Dubber, 2006, p.090). This implies that the abuse can result from both the way the power is sought and the mechanism of its execution. For instance, power abuse can results when very legitimate mechanisms are exercised in pursuit for an outcome that is deemed unlawful. Similarly, when unconstitutional means are espoused to obtain the right objectives, a power abuse arises (Cossins, 2000, p.63). Practically speaking, the concept of power abuse can be explained on account of three principle elements (Hornstein, 2003, p.29). These elements include: the purpose, the means and the limits surrounding the power execution. The unconstitutionality of the purpose that any power seeks to achieve often characterize its abuse (Dubber, 2005, p.73). For instance, in political and socio-economic structures, power abuse might be reflected in cases where individuals use power to reverse an imposition of a legal control on certain individuals. It is also expressed in case where power is used to put to a halt a court proceedings or a averse a court judgment on some individual