Sociology 401
Sociological Theory
Spring 2002
Dr. Scott SchafferDefinitions of Power
Key definition: The capacity of individuals or institutions to achieve goals even if opposed by others.
Some quotations regarding power for you, representing many different perspectives on power (courtesy of http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/TCH.CHAP19.HTM):
"Power may be defined as the production of intended effects" [Russell, 1938,p.18].
"Power is the ability to employ force" [Bierstedt, 1950, p. 733].
"For the assertion 'A has power over B.' we can substitute the assertion 'A's behavior causes B's behavior' " [Simon, 1957, p. 5].
"My intuitive idea of power, then, is something like this: A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do" [Dahl, 1957, p. 202].
Power is "the ability to satisfy one's wants through the control of preferences and/or opportunities" [Kuhn, 1963, p. 317].
Power is "the processual relation between two parties modally characterized by (1) asymmetric influence, in which a perceptible probability of decision rests in one of the two parties, even over the resistance of the other party; and (2) the predominance of negative sanctions (threatened or actual) as a feature of behavior in the dominant party" [Schermerhorn, 1961, P. 12].
Power "is the process of affecting policies of others with the help of (actual or threatened) severe deprivations for nonconformity with the policies intended" [Lasswell and Kaplan, 1950, p. 76].
Power: "its inner reality, the thing without which it cannot be: that essence is command" [Jouvenal, 1962, p. 96].
"Power is the ability to cause or prevent change" [May, 1972, p. 99].
"Objection is when I say: this doesn't suit me. Resistance is when I make sure that what doesn't suit me never happens again." [Meinhof]
So, we can see that power has a few key characteristics:
Power is relational; it requires at least two people or groups to carry it out;
It depends on one's position in a social structure, so that power is allocated to individuals or groups depending on their structural location;
It includes the ability to compel someone or a group of people to do what they otherwise might not, to convince others of the rightness of one's worldview or plan of action, to will one's vision of the world into being, or to resist these things;
And finally, it includes some measure of success - the successful exercise of power requires that one be successful in their plan of action.
Your task: Find one quotation or a couple of key characteristics that match your gut intuition about power, develop criteria for recognizing them based on the definition you've got, and go with that.