Power

How do we define what power is? Power is yet another term which can have multiple meanings. Political scientists are concerned with figuring out what power is, where power is being used, and how power affects those who are using it (agents) and those it is used upon (patients)

Steven Lukes Steven Lukes is the key philosopher who is concerned with the study of power. His theory speaks of 3 faces of power

First Face – the open Face – Decision making power This relates to the traditional view of power – Thomas Hobbes – A has the power to make B do something that they wouldn’t usually. This could be through the promise of rewards, the threat of violence, or being seduced into it through flattery/persuasion etc. “The carrot, the stick or the kiss”

What is the source of this power? From a conflict perspective it would seem like there is always a group which has predominant power in society – Marxists see the bourgeoisie as being ever powerful (in a capitalist society), feminists see the patriarchy as exploiting women. Thomas Hobbes believed that if society was going to be orderly then law and order must be provided by a single state which has power over all people Max Weber refers to this as the monopoly on the legitimate use of violence

Robert Dahl He challenged the idea that only one body in society can have power – he said that trade unions, pressure groups and local communities can also have a say in laws that are made – this shows that power can be spread out among different bodies – this is called plurality. However, it doesn’t change the fact that this traditional view sees power as being about decisions being made.

Why is it called the open face? It is called the open face because we can clearly see when it is being used. It is when laws are being made When laws are being passed through Parliament there is a process that they go through. We can clearly see that process – we can see the debates and read the transcripts – it is open

Second Face- the hidden face – agenda setting This is where power exists but is not necessarily being used. “Some issues can be organised into politics, and some organised out” This is the ability to control what gets talked about – before the decisions are made.

Agenda setting Some organisations are so powerful that they get to decide what goes on the agenda for the country These “moral entrepreneurs” have the power to lead public conversations and public opinion on issues. This can be seen most clearly in the role of newspapers – Brexit was not an issue which concerned British voters until the newspapers There is not equal power among all groups in agenda setting Big companies might have potential to have power in a lot of situations but choose not to use it

Why is it called the hidden face? We don’t see where power is being used – we may not even know that it is being used. This power is used before decision making even takes place – it defines what the decisions could even be about

Third Face – the radical face – Thought control This is a much more insidious type of power – to the extent where we don’t even know that power has been exerted over us – we think we are making free choices. Marxists would point out how we all instinctively act in ways which are not actually in our own best interests – this is sometimes called system justification theory. For example people living in poverty often accept the belief that poverty is the fault of the individual rather than the system.

Thought Control We have been socialised into thinking in particular ways – and then thinking that we are making free choices Ann Oakley – girls may think that they are choosing careers in caring and cooking, choosing to wear make-up. However, we have been socialised into all of these “choices”.

The radical face It is called the radical face as it removes any idea of human agency – it implies that we don’t really know what our real interests are