Absent apostolic succession, what is the argument for the authority of the church? I realize that Catholics believe in apostolic succession, and that they were explicitly given authority by Jesus himself.  In other denominations, what, if anything, other than the choice made by its members gives the church authority over them?

I am speaking here not of "church" meaning a community of Christians, but "church" meaning a specific entity that owns property and instructs its members on what they may or may not do (such as tithing, indulgences, sexual practices, marriage, musical choices, etc.), led by a specific human individual or group.

I used to think that non-Catholics dedicated themselves to a church conditionally -- that is, they stay as long as the church seems to be serving God's will, and leave or seek to change the church if it doesn't.  However, in practice that doesn't seem to happen much.  I know many Christians who have never even read the Bible directly -- they pray and live solely according to the directions of their pastor and his/her interpretation of God's will, their only direct contact with the Bible is in small quotations strewn about a sermon completely out of context.  These particular individuals feel that only a pastor can know what is true, and that as laypeople they are required to follow without question.  Is this a mainstream belief, and if so, from what does it stem?
This is a great question. 

In the Presbyterian churches I have participated in they have had the following structure:


Denomination - An organization (often national) that oversees many different regional bodies (in my denomination called Presbyteries). It is a representative democracy, where each Presbytery has a representative and they vote to determine policy.
Presbytery - A regional group of churches. This is also a democracy, each church has representatives (typically elders) who are elected or hired by the members of the church.
Church - A church is a local congregation of consisting of voting members and non-voting attendees (there are vows etc for members). The Members vote for people to become elders and deacons, and pastors.


Thus in the Presbyterian system, much like the government of the United States the power of the church and its officials is derived directly from the members of the congregation. If the members are unhappy with their pastor or elders there are procedures in place to remove them from their positions. The congregation is considered to be the "Body of Christ" and thus the source of the Church's operational authority.

The Presbyterian church accepts only the Bible as an infallible doctrinal standard, but also points to the Westminster Confession of faith as a concise statement of their beliefs. The Bible is not amendable, however there are circumstances under which the confession can be amended.