Formal Centers of Social Power M. Chandrasekaran Fellow, Institute of chartered accountants of india Research fellow, the mother’s service society

Formal Centers of Social Power Formal centers of social power pool the strengths of individuals, and draw the collective power for individual use. Social organizations sublimate the physical energy into acceptable forms of behavior. All social accomplishment is the result of sublimation. Internalization of values makes the power of the society available to the individual. The quantity of power an individual can receive is limited only by his receptivity. Organized social power emerges in the form of formal institutions from the unorganized social potential of individuals.

Formal Centers of Social Power Acceptance has two aspects - Individual accepting collective authority and the collective accepting the importance of the individual. Formal centers need authority to discharge duties. Absolute authority often corrupts formal centers of power. Informal sources of social power check the power of formal centers. Formal centers often resist the emergence of Informal sources. Formal Centers and Informal sources are not contraries. They are complementarities.