A ruler governs by punishment and reward alone, and loses control the moment either is delegated.
Han Feizi's chapter on the two handles argues that authority rests entirely on the power to punish and to reward, and that a minister permitted to dispense either will be obeyed in the ruler's place. The Legalist claim is mechanical rather than moral: it does not matter whether the minister is loyal.
In practice
- A chief executive who lets a deputy set bonuses finds the team's attention has moved one desk across.
- A head teacher who delegates both praise and discipline is consulted by nobody within a term.
- Subject
- Law & Politics
- Essay
- Competing accounts of how power works