2. Power and Legitimacy Flashcards
Trianon soha
What is power for Hague (Hague et al., 2019)?
Hague et al., 2019: The currency of Politics
What is politics for Laswell and Burnham et al.?
Laswell, 1936: The shaping and sharing of power.
Burnham et al., 2008: Politics is about power.
But keep in mind, Gallie, 1995: Essentially contested concept.
What are the two distinct interpretation of power?
Power over:
Power over refers to exercise of control by actor over another
- “The ability to make other people do what ones wants them to do.” (Raphael, 1970)
- “The ability to achieve results through concerted action.” (Lipson, 1954)
- “Power “may comprise anything that establishes and maintains control of man over man” (Morgenthau 1978)
- The chance of a man or a number of men to realise own will in a communal action against the resistance of others who are participating in the action (Weber, 1921)
- “A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something B would not otherwise do” (Dahl, 1991)
- “A exercises power over B when A affects B in a manner contrary toB’s interests” (Lukes 2005: 37)
Power to:
Power to refers to the ability to achieve a desired outcome
- “In a broad sense the power is the production of intended effects” (Hague et al., 2019)
- The ability to be involved in conflict, to resolve it and to remove the obstacles (Deutsch, 1963)
- The ability to shift the probability of outcomes (Dahl, 1991)
- The “capacity to affect outcomes by controlling or influencing the state”, most notably “the ability to determine or influence the decisions, actions or behaviour of government officials” (Sodaro, 2007: 99)
- A man’s “present means, to obtain some future apparent good” (Hobbes, 1651: chap. 10)
What is the difference between power and authority to Max Weber (Weber, 1921)?
Power is the possibility to impose will to others in the context of a social relationship, even if there is resistance
Authority refers to exercising power that is accepted and, thus, considered legitimate
What are the three (ideal types) of authority to Max Weber (Weber, 1921)?
Traditional authority: Based on tradition
Charismatic authority: Based on personality
Rational-legal authority: Based on rules & laws
What are the types of authorities for Dennis Wrong (Wrong, 1995)?
- Authority based on coercion
2.Authority based on reward - Legitimate authority
- Authority based on competence
- Personal authority
What is power for Hannah Arendt (Arendt, 1951) (Arendt, 1971)
Power and violence:
- Violence is always a characteristic of a group
- It is always instrumental
- Power and violence are opposite
But, for others:
- Violence as a source or expression of power
- Power suggest differences, oppositions, enmity or conflict
What is the connect between power and influence? What did the following people say about it:
- Dahl, 1991:12
- Sodaro, 2007
- Wrong, 1995
- van der Eijk, 209: chp. 6
In sum, influence refers to indirect or partial effects (Steven)
- “one writer’s influence is another’s power” (Dahl 1991: 12)
- Influence is a less powerful form of power (Sodaro 2007)
- The main difference is intentionality (Wrong 1995)
- Influence is more limited in scope (van der Eijk 2019: chap. 6)
What are the different forms of power according to Wrong? (Wring, 1995: chp. 2.)
- Force (physical or subtle)
- Manipulation (hidden intentions by power holder)
- Persuasion (accepting opinions, asymmetry often unclear)
- Authority (legitimacy of power, source of power is key)
What are the different forms of power according to Robert A. Dahl? (Dahl, 1991)
From best to worst (Steven)
- Rational persuasion: Explaining
- Manipulative persuasion: Lying or
misleading - Inducement: Rewards and punishment
- Power threatening: Severe punishment
- Coercion: No way out
- Physical force: Use, threat of bodily harm
What did Arirstotle say about the legitimate and corrupt rule?
Rule by one - Monarchy - Tyranny
Rule by few - Aristocracy - Oligarchy
Rule by many - Polity - Democracy
For a more detailed discussion, consult Mulgan (2012)
What are the three faces of power for Steven Lukes (Lukes, 1974)
- Power as decision-making
- Power as agenda-setting
- Power as ideological hegemony
What is pluralism as power as decision making?
(What is pluralism? How is power present in it?
-
“natural balance” between groups and their power
–> No continuous power elite (Bentley 1908; Truman 1959) - Power sources: Dispersed and non cumulative
- Central thesis: Unequal division of power, everyone has access
- Primary focus: Decision-making processes (Dahl 1961)
–> Who participates in decision-making Who wins and loses?
–>Strongly embedded in behaviouralism - Criticism:
–> Difficult to map all power sources and mechanisms
–> What we want to understand is not observable
What is a critique on pluralism? (in terms of agenda-setting power). What is agenda setting power?
(Bachrach and Baratz 1962; 1963)
(Schattschneider 1960: 71)
- Pluralism focuses too much on exercising power and reduces this to decision-making
- What precedes decision-making?
–> Not only represented interests, but also interests that do not make it (Bachrach and Baratz 1962; 1963) - Power can also be ‘non-decision-making’
–> Not observable
–> Latent or potential issues kept off the agenda - More subtle and indirect
- “mobilisation of bias” (Schattschneider 1960: 71)
–> a set of predominant values, beliefs, rituals, and institutional procedures (‘rules of the game’) that operate systematically and consistently to the benefit of certain persons and groups at the expense of others.
(Bachrach and Baratz 1970: 43)
Check it out if you want:
https://www.arcom.ac.uk/-docs/proceedings/1a13d94515fe6d3cd3538a7cfa3d6ca7.pdf
What is power as ideological hegemony?
(Mill, 1869)
(Frey, 1971)
- Power goes beyond “doing things”, also “shaping of beliefs and desires” or thought control
- To make people think certain things, to avoid they become conscious of their own objective desires (Mill, 1869)
- When power subject identifies with power holder, and
stimulated through socialisation or manipulation (Frey, 1971) - Claim of invisible or unobservable power is problematic from a scientific perspective
