The power debate

What is power?

Power is more thaan just a resources

• Actors woth the most resources do not always get the outcome that they want

• Resources need to be converted into power

• But they are not everything

• Everyone has resources does not automatically have power

Power as the ability to alter others behaviour to produce preferred outcomes

• The focus is on behavioural outcomes

Three faces of relational power

• Commanding change

• Controlling agendas

• Establishing preferences

Power as commanding change

A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would otherwise not do

The ability to command others to change their behaviour against their inital preferences

• Focus is on changing actors situation

• These actors are aware of and feel the effect of power over them

Threats of punishment, promise of rewards

To study this we need to know actors initial preferences

Power as controlling agendas

Framing and agenda-setting

• Focus is on limiting actor’s choices.

• These actors may or may not be aware of the effect of power over them

Agenda-framing: Which options are kept off the table?

Which actors are included and excluded?

Which issues are included and excluded?

Example: Private businesses lobbying parties and politicians to keep certain issues off the table.

Power as establishing preferences

The power of getting others to wnt the same outcomes as you want

• Focus is on changing actors basic beliefs, perceptions and preferences

• Directing their preferneces to chnage what they want, what oyu want they want

• These actors are not aware of and do not realize the effect of the power over them

• It looks like free will but was influenced

How are actors perceptions of legitimate and feasible

power as thought control

Power as establishing preferences

Politics is not only about political parties

A diverse set of societal groups aims to get access to policymaking

An interest group is an organised association that aims to influence the policies or actions of government

Different from political parties

• Seek to exert influence from outside

• They typically have a narrow issue focus

• They seldom have a broader ideological focus

Sectional groups

• Seek to advance and protect the interests of their members

• Trade unions, business corporations are examples of this group

• Workers, employers, consumers

Promotional group

• Set up to advance shared values, ideas and principles

• Campaigns on different topics

• Public interest groups

• Promote collective benefits

Insider groups

• Enjoy regular, privileged and access to government

• Opperate inside the system

• Government relies on their support

Outsider groups

Are not consulted by government

Consulted irregularly and not at a senior level

Social movement

A social movement as a form of collective behaviour in which the motive to act springs largely ‚from the attitudes and aspirations of members who are typically acting withing a loose organizational framework

Still there is a degree of intended and planned action

Exmpl: black lives matter

How can interest groups exert influence

Solving a collective action problem

Interest groups have different resources

• Public sympathy for groups and its goals

• The size of its membership base

• Financial strength and organizational capabilities

Interest groups have diffeerent channels to exert influence

• Political parties, legislator and bureaucry

• Courts

• Masss media

• International organization

Another way is also lobbying

Who has power: lobbying

• Conduct activities aimed at influencing public officials and especially members of legislative body on legislation

• TRYING TO INFLUENCE POWER

• LEGAL AND REGULATED

• CAN ALSO HAVE positive effects in democracies – interest representation

• Change in rules as a result of lobbying usually affect all firms

• Target: governments

Bribery

• Trying to buy power

• Illegal in most places

• Only have negative effects (subverts democracy, increases inequalities

• Returns are specific to bribing firm

• Target: often a specific civil servant

• Both can lead to undue political influence

Us 2020 electios

Presidential and congressional candidates spent almost 14bn

Only 20% are contributions from everyday americans

A small faction of very wealthy individuals donate the largest amount of money

Why does this matter?

Wealthy individuals who can donate to political campaigns are usually not respresentative of the average citizen

Some interests are better represented than others

The electoral process might be disorted and corruption might be facilitated

Transparency and oppenness are important to counter this

How is power distributed - Who has the power - Pluralism

• No single elite that is able to dominate

• Political power is fragmented and dispersed

• Decision are made through bargaining and inteaction which ensures that the views and interest of a large number of groups are taken into account

• Groups are important for arculationd an aggregating interests

• The system is open to virtually every group

Elitism

• Power is in th ehand of small minority

• Privelegde minority

• This elite can be coherent or fractured

• The power elite comprises political leaders, heads of business corporations and military chiefs

Corporatism

• Instead of open competition of influence

• Certain groups have access to the government

• Means of incorporating organised interests into the process of government

• Certain groups have privileged and institutionalised access in relation to government

• Tripartism among government business and unions

• Social economic council in the netherlands

• Economic advisory body to the dutch government and parliament

Hard power – military economic power

• Focus on coercion

• Corresponds to the first and second faces of relational power

• Can be used as punishment if change does not change

• US, China – big military economic and population

Soft power – diplomacy, education, culture

• Can make country attractive for others

• Government can be more persuasive on the international stage

• Focus on persuasion and attraction

• Corresponds to the third face of power

• France, UK, Germany – attract international studenst

• China, Russia and turkey are low

Smart power

Capacity to effectively combine hard and soft power

In order to be effective need to stragetigiely combine that hard and soft power reforce each other to maximise the power

Many foreign policy challenges (such as terrorism) cannot be addressed by hard or soft power alone

Combination of both hard and soft power

must use what has been called smart power, the full range of tools at our disposal, diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal, and cultural, picking the right tool, or combination of tools, for each situation

How is power distributed between and among different states and key actors?

Unipolarity:

• There is only one power block; the existence of a single great power.

• Soviet union

 Bipolarity:

• The international system revolves around two power blocs (poles).

Multipolarity:

•  The international systems revolves around three or more power blocs.

• Power has become more complex

• Some are losing and some gaining

Nonpolarity:

•  Many different poles (some of which are not states!; power diffusion)