This public conceptual reference defines the principal concepts required to interpret Institutional Authority and Governance Dynamics (IAGD) and clarifies the boundaries among adjacent constructs. The reference distinguishes Authority Claims, Authority, Institutional Authority, Authority Exercise, Legitimacy, and Legitimation. It separately defines Governance Control and Authority–Control Alignment and specifies locational, authorization, accountability, and corrective dimensions of alignment. The governance-dynamics vocabulary differentiates Governance Drift, Authority Leakage, Authority Displacement, Governance Fragmentation, Shadow Authority, and Authority Boundary Collapse. It also defines Authority Preservation, Authority Recovery, Authority Realignment, Institutional Trajectory, and Authority Provenance. The document emphasizes that authority is distinct from power, practical control, technical capability, access, expertise, legitimacy, and performance. It further clarifies that action-specific authorization remains distinct from general institutional mandate or delegated role. This publication supplements the Institutional Authority and Governance Dynamics architecture and provides a public interpretive reference for the IAGD research program. It does not constitute empirical validation or a completed measurement model.
Daron L. Davis (2026) studied this question.