Nature and Meaning of Power

Qn. Examine the nature and meaning of Power.

Power refers to the 'ability to do things' and the capacity to produce effects within social interaction. Bertrand Russel defined power as, 'the production of intended effects'. Power often takes the character of 'authority' which also comprehends legitimacy i.e., the capacity to secure willing obedience.

According to Talcott Parsons, a sociologist, possession of power enables the capacity to secure the performance of political obligation.

The Nature of Power -

  1. Power ensures conformance and obedience to rules.
  2. Power controls society by generating consent on the other.
  3. Marxists perceive power as exploitation which occurs when the surplus produced by one section of the population is controlled by another section and is hidden from the participants by the language of the contract, in which every individual is equal. They perceive power as a coercive apparatus serving the interests of the ruling class.
  4. Max Weber distinguishes the authority that enjoys legitimacy into Rational-legal authority, Traditional authority, and Charismatic authority.
    • Rational-legal authority is characteristic of the modern industrial bureaucratic state.
    • The traditional authority which has its basis in historical and cultural factors
    • Charismatic authority is the power exerted by the personal qualities possessed by an individual or an organization.
As Fredrick Watkins suggested, "The proper scope of political science is not the study of the state or of any other specific institutional complex, but the investigations of all associations insofar as they can be shown to exemplify the problem of power".

References:
1. Political Theory: An Introduction by Rajiv Bhargava
2. IGNOU
3. An Introduction to Political Theory by OP Gauba

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