The legitimate use of authority in political and moral education is examined from a cognitive-developmental perspective. However, legitimate authoritative communications by a teacher must have the potential for reasoned elaboration. These communications then mark off the boundaries of rational and authoritative communication from non- and irrational communications. The backing by reasons of these authoritative statements must be made apparent at some level meaningful to the child if genuine authority is to be established, even if the child is not capable of fully comprehending the concepts and relations involved. In Kohlberg's three stages of moral development, authority can be used to mark out and develop the sphere of reason up until the child reaches the postconventional, autonomous, or principled level. In the political education of young children, authority can be used to make clear to children that political party allegiances and strong positive feelings about the Presidency are not genetically inherited from parents but are choices made from rational political thought. (Author/DE)