A state’s authority is always the claim of particular humans.

Evidence

Since any state as its subjects actually encounter it at any time behaves as it does merely because a particular set of human beings chooses one course of action rather than another, the most important single point about a state’s claims to authority always remains that they are claims of particular human beings to be obeyed (Dunn 1969: 148 n.1). (It was not a trivial matter to elect Ronald Reagan President of the United States.) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 1195

Categorization

• XREF: Authority as particular persons’ claims connects to Saramago’s doctor’s wife, whose personal agency (not institution) guarantees order.