Two Conceptions of Power: Power as Property and Power as Strategy

Abstract

This paper analyzes two conceptions of Power: Power as property and Power as strategy. Both of these conceptions are tied to the regimes that used to exist or still exist now. The conception of Power as property is useful when we analyze the ancient regime but as M. Foucault, M. N. Rothbard and H. H. Hoppe shows, this conception is unsuitable once we analyze democratic regimes. These insights are used by H. H. Hoppe to analyze democracy where the government is conceived as public property (Power as strategy) in contrast to monarchies where government is the private property of the ruling family (Power as property). These differences have a rather great bearing on the time preference of society at large and civilization as a whole. Once government becomes public property various negative consequences ensue. The mentioned distinction between two conceptions of Power can also be found in the two different theories of class warfare: the Liberal one and the Marxist one. The Liberal theory of class warfare uses the conception of Power as strategy, whereas the Marxist theory conceives Power as the property of the ruling class, yet on closer examination one can see that K. Marx and F. Engels uses (at least implicitly) the conception of Power as strategy rather than property. Keywords: Power, property, strategy, class warfare, Liberalism, Marxism, democracy. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15823/zz.2014.025