The emergence of European private law and the plurality of authority

This article aims to identify, analyse, frame the emergence of and advance a multidimensional understanding of diverse modes of authority, engaging the development of European private law as an analytical lens. It proceeds as follows. First, a general analysis of authority is undertaken whereby it is differentiated from power and legitimacy. Thereafter drawing on Christopher McMahon’s threefold conceptualisation of authority, the article attempts to construct a multidimensional framework, which allows for sufficient consideration to be attributed to the plurality of authority’s component parts. In respect of each dimension of this theoretical outline, the analysis is concretised via the integration of references to the emergence and evolution of European private law. The overview of the foundations and associated challenges of authority allows us to proceed to evaluate how the framework advanced herein can facilitate the identification and comprehension of the different types of authority that emerge transnationally in European private law development