How to understand power - Eric Liu

Power and Civic Life: Core Concepts

• Power definition: $\text{Power} \equiv \text{the ability to make others do what you would have them do}$
  • Applies in family, workplace, and relationships; focus here is the civic arena where power helps a community make desired choices and take desired actions.
• Power is neutral, not inherently good or evil: power is like fire or physics—it simply governs outcomes. It determines who gets to set the rules of the game.
• In a democracy, power should reside with the people; government derives power through elections; in a dictatorship, state power comes from threat of force, not consent.
• Purpose of the lesson: understand where power comes from, how it is exercised, and how to become more powerful in public life.

The Six Sources of Civic Power

• 1) Physical force and capacity for violence
  • Control of the means of force (police, militia) as the most primal form of power.
• 2) Wealth
  • Money creates the ability to buy results and to buy other kinds of power.
• 3) State action (government)
  • Use of law and bureaucracy to compel or restrain actions.
  • In a democracy, power is derived from the consent of the governed (through elections).
  • In a dictatorship, power emerges from threat of force, not consent.
• 4) Social norms
  • Norms are beliefs about what is acceptable; operate peer-to-peer without centralized machinery.
  • They can change behavior and even laws (e.g., evolving norms around marriage equality).
• 5) Ideas
  • Core principles (e.g., individual liberties, racial equality) can mobilize large numbers of people and drive action.
• 6) Numbers
  • A vocal mass of people expresses collective intensity of interest and legitimacy; crowds count (examples: Arab Spring, Tea Party).

How Power Operates: The Three Laws

• Law 1: Power is never static
  • It is always accumulating or decaying in the civic arena.
  • If you aren’t taking action, you’re being acted upon.
• Law 2: Power is like water
  • It flows through everyday life; politics is the work of harnessing that flow in a desired direction.
  • Policymaking is an effort to freeze and perpetuate a particular flow of power; i.e., $\text{Policy} \equiv \text{Power Frozen}$
• Law 3: Power compounds
  • Power breeds more power; powerlessness also compounds.
  • The safeguard is how we apply Laws 1 and 2: setting rules to prevent concentration of power and to prevent privileged groups from entrenching policy.
• Real-world illustration: these laws appear in news stories such as: low-wage workers organizing for higher pay; oil companies pushing pipelines; gay and lesbian couples seeking marriage rights; urban parents demanding school vouchers.

Examples in News and Everyday Life

• Low-wage workers organize for higher pay (power from numbers, norms, and perhaps state action).
• Oil companies push to get a big pipeline approved (power from wealth, political influence, and state action).
• Gay and lesbian couples seek the legal right to marry (power from ideas and numbers, supported by norms and state action).
• Urban parents demand school vouchers (power from social norms, ideas, and political organization).
• You may support these efforts or not; outcomes depend on how adept you are with power and how you participate in public life.

Becoming More Powerful in Public Life: Read Power and Write Power

• Read power (reading power)
  • Treat society as a set of texts; map who holds power, through which systems, and how it arose.
  • Understand who created the power structure, who benefits, and who benefits from maintaining it.
  • Study strategies used by others in similar situations: frontal attack, indirection, coalitions, charismatic authority.
  • Aim: read so you may write.
• Write power (writing power)
  • Begin with believing you have the right to write and to influence change.
  • Like writing, develop an authentic voice; express yourself clearly; organize your ideas.
  • Organize others; practice consensus-building and constructive conflict.
  • Power writing is practice: daily actions in your neighborhood and beyond.
  • Steps: set objectives, aim bigger over time; observe patterns, learn what works, adapt, and repeat.
  • This discipline constitutes citizenship: engaged, thoughtful participation in public life.

The Why of Power and Character

• Central question: Why do you want power?
  • Is your purpose pro-social (benefits everyone) or anti-social (benefits yourself at others’ expense)?
  • This question concerns character, not strategy.
• The takeaway: Power plus character equals a great citizen; you have the power to be one.

Connections to Foundational Principles and Real-World Relevance

• Foundational link to democratic theory: legitimacy arises when people consent through elections; power must be accountable.
• Practical political relevance: understanding power helps you participate effectively, advocate for causes, and defend against manipulation.
• Ethical implication: balancing ambition with responsibility; the aim is to advance the common good, not just personal advantage.
• The framework encourages deliberate action: map power, strategize ethically, practice public voice, and cultivate civic character.

Quick References (Key Formulas and Phrases)

• Power definition: $\text{Power} \equiv \text{the ability to make others do what you would have them do}$
• Policy as a metaphor for power: $\text{Policy} = \text{Power Frozen}$
• Three Laws summarized:
  • Law 1: Power is never static; it accumulates or decays.
  • Law 2: Power flows like water through society; politics harnesses that flow.
  • Law 3: Power compounds; the rule of law must prevent unchecked accumulation.
• Reading vs writing power: read texts of power; write with a legitimate claim to influence; practice practical citizenship.