Power: Nature Dimension Types and Consequences

POWER
Nature Dimension Types and Consequences

What is Power?
• In social and politics, power is the capacity of an individual to influence the
conduct (behavior) of others. The term “authority” is often used for power
that is perceived as legitimate by the social structure. Power can be seen as
evil or unjust.
Nature of Power
• Power implies the ability to influence or control others or to get things done
by others. Naturally power relates to the relationship or interaction between
two or among more than two elements or actors. So power always viewed in
the background of relationship.
Power is a conditional concept. Power is an ability to command service
from others. But this ability, depends in some measure upon certain conditions
and if the conditions are not fulfilled properly power cannot function. Power is
not something which is permanently fixed. It is subject to change and it has
source.
If the source dries up power generation or enhancement will
stop. Mere existence of sources cannot cause the rise of power.
The holder of power must have the ability to use or utilize the
source of power. All these conditions establish the fact that
power is conditional.
Dimensions of Power
The three Dimensions of power
• Decision making power
is the most public of three dimensions. Analysis of this “face” focuses on policy preferences
revealed through political action.
• Non decision making power
is that which sets the agenda in debates and make certain issues. Unacceptable for discussions in
“legitimate” public forum. Adding this faces gives a tow dimensional view of power allowing the analyst
to examine both current and potential issues, expanding the focus on observable conflict to those types
that might be observed overtly or covertly.
• Ideological power
allows one to influence people’s wishes and thoughts, even making them want things
opposed to their own self interest. This third dimension as a “thoroughgoing critique” of the
behavioural focus of the first two dimensions, supplementing and correcting the shortcoming
of previous views, allowing the analyst to include both latent and observable conflicts. Full
critique of power should include both subjective interest and those “real” interest held by those
excluded by the political process.
Types of Power
• Knowledge Power
To Foucault (19sixty9), power is intimately linked with knowledge. Power and knowledge
produce one another. He saw knowledge as a means of “keeping tabs” on people and
controlling them.
• Military Power
It involves the use of physical coercion. Warfare has always played a major role in politics.
Modern mass military systems developed into bureaucratic organizations and significantly
change the nature of organizing and fighting wars. Few groups in society base their power
purely on force or military might.
• Ideological Power
it involves power over ideas and beliefs, for example, are communism, facism and some
varieties of nationalism. These types ideologies are frequently oppositional to dominant
institutions and play an important role in the organization of devotes into sects and parties.
According to Michael Mann (198six), there are two types of power: Distributional and
collective.
• Distributional Power
it is a power over others. It is the ability of individuals to get others to help them pursue their own
goals. It is held by individuals.
• Collective Power
It is exercised by social groups. It may be exercised by one social group over another.
Power and Consequences
Power and consequences are often closely related. The basic principle is that a
person with power has the ability to create consequences for the target person, who
takes these consequences into my account when they are deciding whether to comply
with a request or refuse it.
• Punishment a very common attribute of power is that the wielder of power has
the ability to coerce the target into compliance through the threat of some kind of
punishment. The basic transaction is hence ‘Do as I say or else I will harm you in
some way’. The person is then faced with the choice of obedience or suffering the
consequences that the powerful person can create.
Punishment can take many forms. In a business setting it can be as direct as
being sacked or less obvious in the way that the target person may be given
work that is less desirable than they might get if they complied with the
request.
• Prevention
some people do not have the power to directly punish, though they may have the ability to
withhold something or prevent the target person getting what they want. The transaction here
is “Do I say or else you will get what you want”.
• Power loss there is also consequences for the person wielding the power. Sometimes
use of power of power leads to gaining more power as the dominated person becomes
cowed and hence easier to persuade in future. Sometimes the use of power has no effect on
the balance of power in the future. And sometimes there is negative consequences for the
person using the power, that in using power it is spent, like money, and may not be easy to
regain.
An example of losing power when it is used is where you have helped a person in the past
and they feel obliged to comply when you ask something of them in return. When they agree
to your request, they then obligation has been discharged and hence you have less power over
them.
“
THANKS FOR LISTENING
”
Reporters:
John Russel Pasa
Alvin Hayao

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Nature Dimension Types and Consequences

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