Power and Politics

What is Power?

Power is the ability to influence or control people, events, or outcomes.
It exists everywhere and in every human interaction.

Sources & Forms of Power

  • Authority of others

  • Control and influence

  • Dominance

  • Knowledge and awareness

  • Money (its value depends on what we are taught to give it)

  • Social currency

  • Privilege

  • Command

  • People themselves as sources of power

Nature of Power

  • Not the item itself, but how it’s used.

  • Invisible power is most effective when unseen — it shapes reality by framing questions and excluding others unnoticed.

  • Many decisions are made in spaces we’re unaware of.

Power in Political Science

  • Central concept with many definitions.

  • Important to distinguish how power operates and who wields it.

Two Dimensions of Power

  1. Power To — Empowering, uplifting, builds capacity

  2. Power Over — Restrictive, disempowering, suppresses others

Amos Hawley:
“Every act of power, every social relationship is a power equation; every social group or system is an organization of power.”
→ Power is embedded in all social structures.

1. “Power To”

  • Associated with democracy and empowerment.

  • The capacity to realize a collective good, depending on willingness and participation.

  • Freedom = responsibility to participate in the system.

  • Citizens are given the opportunity to contribute and have a voice in public life.

  • Even with limitations, individuals are not completely powerless.

Criticisms

  • The belief that “people have power” can be a lie:

    • Elites already hold the majority of political power.

    • Ordinary people’s futures are often determined by invisible external forces.

  • Overly idealistic: ignores social inequalities.

  • Modern technologies (e.g., digital media) blur the perception of true power.

Note: Even if the system is imperfect, people still have some ability to challenge or enact freedom.

2. “Power Over”

  • A form of power that constrains, prohibits, directs, and disempowers.

  • Unequally distributed through race, class, gender, and elite control.

  • Excludes groups and denies access/opportunities.

  • Used to dominate or silence others, often with racist, sexist, or colonialist motives.

  • Limits choice and freedom, preventing individual engagement.

Not “power bias” — rather, a system of dominance and control.

Key Thinkers

Niccolò Machiavelli (1468–1527)

  • Distinguished between the “is” and the “should” of politics.

  • Politics focuses on what is (reality), not what should be (morality).

Michel Foucault (Modern Political Theorist)

  • Rejected the idea that power is something you possess.

  • Power is productive, not just repressive:

    • It produces knowledge, identities, and social relations.

    • Power creates us — it exists in all relationships and structures.

  • Discourse (systems of knowledge) is a form of power:

    • Shapes how we think and what we believe.

    • Example: media narratives, cultural stereotypes, “Top 10 best” lists.

  • Power/Knowledge are inseparable — they form the lens through which we view reality.

We must recognize how we’re influenced by these hidden systems of control — often against our own interests.

Modern Politics

  • Some modern political actors believe “the ends justify the means.”

  • Ethical or moral considerations often disregarded.

  • However, modern institutions challenge the idea that there are no rules in politics.

  • Ignoring moral standards is self-serving.

⚠ Don’t redefine power terms — use definitions given.