ON POWER, ITS INTENSITY AND DISTRIBUTION

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe inadequate results and the lack of progress of all attempts at measuring power are primarily due to two factors: 1) the tendency to focus on a single dimension of the measurement problem, that is, either on the intensity of power in interpersonal relations, or on the distribution of power within a given social system, failing to link these two aspects; and 2) the inadequacy of community power studies to provide comprehensive models, and the continuing stubborn tendency to conceive measurement in strict, quantitative terms, failing to recognize the value of other less exact forms of measurement. The two problems of the intensity of power in interpersonal relations and of its systemic distribution may be tackled simultaneously by representing the actual impact and behaviour of power in a given system rather than measuring it quantitatively. This is done by means of a graphic, curvilinear representation of the power process, which allows the identification of different “phases”, where power has a substantially different nature (authority, influence, force), elicits different responses (obedience, passive resistance, submission), and results in different power relations (anarchy, legitimacy, bargaining, coercion). The curve bears considerable resemblance to the heuristic instruments of classical economics, and – though it is not without limitations – it offers substantial advantages, particulary its capacity to provide an instrument for comparing the power process in different political systems.