steven lukes 3 faces of power essay Flashcards
intro
Power is the ability to make decisions and influence others behaviors. Stephan Lukes argues that there are three faces of power Open face, secretive face and shaping desires. Through analysis of Lukes ideas we are able correctly define what it means to have ‘power’ in modern day Britain.
the open face description
The open face is a form of power which can be seen to be used and therefore is transparent and a large number of citizens are happy with their decisions. Described as more democratic as ordinary citizens hold the control of power and can remove it from any elected offical who abuses it by voting in elections.
the open face example
Marriage and civil partnership act in Scotland 2014 which legally allowed for same sex marriage from the 6th of December onwards. Despite the bill passing, this was not unanimous amongst all parties. Conservatives voted 8 against the bill and the SNP voted 6 against.
the open face analysis
During the creation of the bill pressure groups such as stonewall and other religious organizations had an input. The bill was transparent and therefore legitimate as whilst people in power will always have somewhat more power than the public, these individuals have been democratically elected, therefore the public have put their trust in them to make decisions on their behalf. In addition to this the voices of pressure groups such as Stonewall and other religious groups had their voices heard. However some groups have better access to different methods of participation than others and in addition larger, more popular pressure groups with high membership levels are more likely to have support of MPs and will have more power as they are established, unlike smaller, less known pressure groups.
the secret face of power description
The secret face of power is where the political agenda is set behind closed doors. It highlights the disparities in power as people in power have the ability to ignore the demands of the weak by delay and bureaucracy meaning that certain issues never reach decisions.
the secret face of power example
An example of this is seen when Dominic cummings breeched (his own governments) covid rules by travelling up to Durham on a holiday. Boris used the secret face of power as defense for cummings whilst the public were angered and was trying to mislead the public.
the secret face of power analysis
This face of power highlights a lack of transparency and legitimacy as people who have been democratically elected to make decisions and policy in the interest of public. This ability to make undercover decisions also allows for bills and laws to be passed that the public have not had a say in, meaning there is no scrutiny and the government is not held accountable. However some may argue that there is a need for the secret face of power as it allows for time sensitive bills and laws to be implemented without going through multiple stages of scrutiny.
the shaping desires face of power description
Shaping desires face of power is the ability to manipulate desires. Lukes argues that people in power can abuse this and manipulate the public into believing that the decisions they are making are in the publics best interest. This is another closed face of power as the public cannot see this influence.
the shaping desires face of power example
Conservatives convince lower working class citizens to vote for them even though their manifestos benefit the middle/upper class citizens of today’s society. Another example can be seen during the COVID pandemic where Ex-president Donald Trump was able to convince hundreds of thousands of Americans that Covid was both not real and was curable.
the shaping desires face of power analysis
Further executed through social media campaigns like Facebook where fake news can be planted and spread to get the manipulate the public to act a certain way or to make decisions that they originally would have not made. Arguably the most undemocratic and almost evil in its nature and shows how people in power are not always working in the interest of the public and their status allows them to abuse their power with no real reparations. However some argue that this is not uncommon and power is consistently abused by people in power to the point where the public have a blind eye as they are so accustomed to their actions. In addition their actions do not go unnoticed by many and they are faced with serious backlash when they are noticed.
