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⚡ POWER – QUICK NOTES ⚡
🧭 Introduction
Politics = Shaping and sharing of power (Lasswell & Kaplan).
Power is central to Political Science — like money is to Economics.
At individual level: ability to impose one’s will.
At state level: ability to act independently in global affairs.
🔑 3 Ingredients of Power
- Force – coercion or threat.
- Influence – persuasion.
- Authority – legitimate right to rule.
🔁 Power vs Authority
| Power | Authority |
|---|---|
| Ability to influence | Right to influence |
| May involve coercion | Based on legitimacy |
| No constitutional base | Has legal + moral base |
| Persuasive/threat-based | Recognized + accepted |
📦 Conventional View of Power
Power = Domination & Coercion.
Robert Dahl: A can get B to do what B wouldn’t do otherwise.
Theories:
- Liberal
- Marxist
- Elitist
- Pluralist
🌱 Non-Conventional View of Power
Power = Empowerment, not domination.
Gramsci: Hegemony – consent over coercion.
Hannah Arendt: Power is collective action.
Steven Lukes’ 3 Dimensions:
- Decision-making (visible power – Weber)
- Agenda-setting (hidden power – Marxist)
- Thought control (ideological power – Gramsci)
🧠 Elite Theory vs Pluralist Theory
| Pluralist Theory | Elite Theory |
|---|---|
| Power is distributed | Power is concentrated |
| Focus on associations | Focus on elite individuals |
| Based on compromise | Based on domination |
| Dynamic leadership flow | Static elite dominance |
| Exponent: Robert Dahl | Exponents: Pareto, Mosca, Michels, C.W. Mills |
📘 Postmodern Theory of Power (Foucault)
- Power is everywhere, not centralized.
- Works through disciplinary institutions: schools, clinics, prisons, etc.
- "Knowledge is power" – power and knowledge are interlinked.
- Power = micro-level, not just top-down.
- Everyone is simultaneously powerful and powerless.
Main Works:
- Discipline and Punish
- The Birth of the Clinic
- History of Sexuality
- Madness and Civilization
🗣️ Important Definitions
- Hobbes – Desire for power is endless.
- Bertrand Russell – Power = ability to achieve objectives.
- MacIver – Capacity to command compliance.
- Hannah Arendt – Only power, not violence, creates legitimacy.
- Nietzsche – Power = capacity to define reality.
- Lord Acton – “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
📚 Major Thinkers & Books
| Thinker | Book |
|---|---|
| Bertrand Russell | Power: A New Social Analysis |
| Robert Dahl | Who Governs?, Dilemmas of Pluralist Democracy |
| Steven Lukes | Power: A Radical View |
| Foucault | Discipline and Punish, History of Sexuality |
| Pareto | The Mind and Society |
| Mosca | The Ruling Class |
| Michels | Political Parties |
| C.W. Mills | The Power Elite |
| MacIver | The Web of Government |
| Hannah Arendt | On Violence |