Power, in the social sciences, is the ability of persons or groups to impose their will on others. Persons with power can enforce their decisions by applying, or threatening to apply, penalties against those who disobey their orders or demands. Power is present in almost all human relationships. Teachers have power over students, employers over employees, parents over children, bullies over weaklings, and militarily strong nations over weak nations.
Forms of power
include coercion, influence, and authority. Coercion is the use of physical force to enforce decisions. Influence is the ability to produce an effect through example, persuasion, or some other means without using force.
Authority is power that is based on agreement by a majority of the members of a society or group. For example, teachers have power (authority) over their students because it is widely recognized and agreed that they must have it to keep order and teach effectively. In democracies, the authority of government is based on the consent of the governed. Leaders chosen by the voters in free elections have authority to make decisions for the people.
Main sources of power
include (1) superior resources, (2) superior numbers, and (3) superior organization.
Resources may be physical or human. Physical resources include money, goods, and property. They give a person the power to buy what he wants, and enable him to command the services of others. Human resources that give power include intelligence, knowledge, skill, prestige, social position, bravery, and personal charm or beauty. Such qualities become a source of power when they enable a person to lead, influence, or control other persons.
Power in numbers can be seen in elections which give the winners the authority to make decisions for the group. But numbers are not all-important. Inferior numbers can exercise power when they have control of important resources, such as the military.
Superior numbers and resources do not by themselves give a person a high degree of power over others. People must know how to use their resources effectively. They do this through organization. Individuals alone have relatively little power to affect important decisions. But by joining together in some kind of organization, they can become powerful. Political parties, pressure groups, and other associations attempt to gain power through social organization. Countries also join together to consolidate power. International power groups include the European Union and the Organization of American States (OAS).
Systems of power.
Power relationships occur in all societies and organized groups. There are important differences in how private and public power systems enforce their decisions. The leaders of private groups—such as businesses and clubs—can fine, suspend, and even expel dissenting members. But only public power systems—that is, governments—can legally use physical force, including imprisonment. Governments control the police and the military, the chief agents of force. This monopoly of force makes control of the state an important source of power.
The social organization that enables certain people to govern in all the organized groups of a community or society makes up the power structure. Sometimes, the most powerful people are referred to as the Establishment, or the power elite.
See also Government .
