What is power?

For those studying politics, the concept of power has long been a crucial focus for research.

Power is the factor that shapes the society people live in, and decides who gets what, when and how. Of course, who holds power will change markedly in different political contexts. In a democracy, it is the people (the electorate) who should hold power, in an Autocracy it is a small group of political elites, in a theocracy it is the religious leaders who wield power.

Still, power is a complex concept – one that can be understood in a variety of ways. As such, it is important to understand what power is, and how it can be used.

Robert Dahl, a well-known American political theorist, gives us a short, concise definition of power, focusing on behaviour. Dahl defines power as:

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

As we can see, for Dahl, power is the ability to alter behaviour in a way that otherwise would not have been possible. For example, a teacher has the power to make a student carry out a homework assignment by saying that it will be good preparation for exams, and through the potential punishment of a detention. Without this encouragement and threat, the student would likely not have rushed home after school to practise algebra.

In comparison, Steven Lukes’ definition of power is more nuanced than Dahl’s, differentiating between three types or “faces” of power:

1. Decision-making power
2. Non-decision making power
3. Ideological power

The first “face”, decision-making power, is the most overt and public form of power. This is the power to make decisions and implement policy. The government, and especially Government ministers, have this power.

Non-decision making power, the second “face”, is the ability to put issues on, or keep them off, the agenda. This might be the power of a journalist or TV news editor, choosing which news stories are given more or less attention on a news programme, or a protest group bringing attention to a particular campaign issue.

Finally, there is “ideological power”, which Lukes developed to broaden the focus from behaviours to look at the power to influence ideas. Journalists and political leaders, especially those who are prominent and with large audiences, would be able to exert this power.

Here we can begin to see the different perspectives of how to understand power in politics. For some, like Dahl, power is about behaviour and the ability to influence the actions of others. Others, like Lukes, go further and make the distinction between influencing others decisions, controlling when decisions are made, and influencing people’s ideas, wishes, and interests.