Definition of moral power - What it is, Meaning and Concept

Power is a notion that mentions a capacity or a faculty .It can also be the empire or the authority that a person or entity has to exercise their will.

The moral , meanwhile, is formed by the values, the beliefs and traditions of an individual or a community.This set allows us to determine what is good and what is bad, guiding action.

The concept of moral power was developed by the Venezuelan procer Simon Bolivar .According to the proposal made by Bolivar in a project of Constitution that was presented in the 19th century , the Moral Power would be an institution aimed at citizen training and to ensure that access to public office and their exercise were forbidden to those men and women who lacked ethical principles.

The figure of Moral Power , also known as Citizen Power , was incorporated by the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (promulgated in 1999 ).It is a organ composed by the Comptroller General , the Attorney General and the Ombudsman .

Although the Moral Power was considered a constitutional innovation for the country, the inspiration of this concept (which Simon Bolivar had suggested almost two centuries ago) dated the figure of the Censor in the ancient Roman Republic , more than four hundred years before the beginning of this millennium.

As observed in the bases of the Moral Power, the Censor was responsible for preventing the unworthy from accessing public office.Every five years, they were elected by the centuriata comitia (one of the Roman assemblies, which was chaired by a consul) two censors who formed a collegiate magistracy and were responsible for conducting the census, overseeing public morality and addressing some issues related to public finances.

The Moral Power , which has an autonomous operation with respect to the other powers of the State , is responsible for analyzing and eventually sanctioning the behaviors of public officials that result contrary to the ethics .

In its broadest sense, what the Moral Power proposes by Bolivar and collected by the current Venezuelan Constitution is to study, verify and punish violations of the law and abuses committed by the rulers, in addition to taking care that citizens do not neglect their moral obligations.

The Ombudsman is an organ that had no background in the Constitution of Venezuela until 1999 and, as well as the Comptroller General and the Attorney General, can act alone or in a group, since he enjoys independence .Any citizen who aspires to be part of them must run before the Assembly by the corresponding Nomination Evaluation Committee, after which only those who have obtained two out of three favorable votes will be elected and may access the office for 7 years.

These bodies are united in the so-called Republican Moral Council , which must exercise the Moral Power.It has financial and functional autonomy, and its objective is to investigate and punish the actions of the Public Administration that are considered alien to the ethics .When they act separately, the functions of these organs are well defined and are all of great importance to defend the Law:

* The Ombudsman participates in the Republican Moral Council and defends citizens through the surveillance, defense and promotion of constitutional rights and guarantees;

* the Attorney General, who heads the Public Prosecutor's Office, exercises the criminal action on behalf of the State, guarantees the speed of the administration of justice and protects the victims of punishable facts, among other functions, all established in article 285 of the Constitution;

* the Comptroller General supervises, monitors and controls all the assets of the country.