Final answer:
Qualifications or marks of achievement used to identify one's authority to make claims are known as credentials. Credentialism focuses on the importance of certificates or degrees as a symbol of qualification. Authority is accepted power, whereas legitimacy is the belief in the rightful power of a government or authority figure.
Step-by-step explanation:
The qualifications or marks of achievement used to identify one's authority to make certain claims are known as credentials. Credentialism is the term used to describe the emphasis on certificates or degrees to indicate that a person has certain skills, has reached a specific level of education, or has met particular job specifications. These certificates or degrees are symbols of an individual's achievements and thus label them as being qualified within a certain domain.
Authority is described as accepted power, which people agree to follow because they believe the authority figures are worthy of respect and that their objectives and demands are reasonable and beneficial. In contrast, legitimacy refers to the belief that a government or authority should have power. It is a fundamental component in the stability of political systems.