Today’s Concept is Power

Power is a very powerful concept. It is the biggest influencer in interactions and relationships between individuals, institutions, communities, states and you name it, whether involving humans or other living creatures such as birds, animals etc. In the theory of evolution, Darwin suggested that it is the “survival of the fittest”. Religious scriptures talk a good deal about power; the strong and the weak or the powerful and the powerless. In spiritual terms, all power comes from God. In Bible, it is written, “We constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power, he may fulfil every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith”. There are several such verses in the Bible. In Hindu scriptures, power is defined as Shakti, which is understood to be active dimension of the Godhead, the divine power that underlies the Godhead’s ability to create the world and run it. Shakti displays itself in multiple forms. The holy Quran describes God's will as the genesis and wellspring of any and all power in the universe.
Leaders and thinkers have defined power in various terms. Abraham Lincoln had said, “nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power”. Lord Acton, a British statesman had famously said, “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, the German philosopher said, “Life is an instinct for growth, for survival, for the accumulation of forces for power”. Mahatma Gandhi divided power into two types. He said, “power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is thousand times more effective and permanent than one derived from fear of punishment”.
I wrote a poem published in my book Hundred Poems on Life & Nature (2018) on the concept of power titled, The corridors of Power: “We need power To trade influence, We use power For delivery of justice”. “We invoke power To legitimise wisdom We produce power To sanctify norms”. “Power develops But it also dominates Power conquers But it surely corrupts”. “It destroys the love For the other If wrongly used Society is torn asunder”. “Then, why so many throng The corridors power To seek favours, patronage and support As they continue to suffer”. “Power is concentrated In the hands of a few Embedding inequality As greed and temptations brew”. “Is it not amazing? How power attracts Only to disappoint And send them off track”. “It is indeed unwise To shun the lure of power It ought not to be unbridled To make it all fair”. “Power is though only A part of politics Values, policies, and principles Make good governance a practice”. So, surely, acquire power But use it gently and judiciously Lest you should derail Many a thing pretty seriously”. “I am no doubt daunted By the corridors of power Where unscrupulous rule And ethics and justice go under”. “I so fervently wish The powerlessness to prevail Let’s be untouched by power And what it entails”.
What is power? Roger Scruton in Dictionary of Political Thought defines power as “the ability to achieve whatever effect is desired whether or not in the face of opposition”. There are several kinds or sources of power – political, economic, technological, military, intellectual, money, muscle, legal and so on. Power may be drawn either from consent or coercion. For example, the power of a charismatic leader may be best in consent of the people while that of a tyrant or a dictator usually is not. The consent lends legitimate power and coercion or control makes power illegitimate. So the political system based on democracy which is in turn based on the consent of people confers legitimate power on the rulers.
Power is visible as it is exercised. It is easy to notice the presence of power wherever it exists. Power is exercised through influence or through control. Political scientists and international theorists discuss the power of control and ignore the power of influence which may be called the soft power. Some theorists, especially the Marxists argue that all political power is to be explained in terms of economic power, dividing rich and poor, haves and have-nots. Marxism can be explained in one sentence which is, “men exploit men, which has been the history of all hitherto societies”. The Maoists go a step further as Mao had said, “power flows from the barrel of the gun”. But there have been different polities and societies in nature and character. So, power does not flow from a single thing; the source is invariably complex. The latest form of power is soft power which includes social capital, civilisational values, political culture, historical legacies etc.
George Schwarzenbarger, an European scholar, says, “the power is the capacity to impose ones will on other by reliance on effective sanctions in case of non-compliance”. Hans Morgantheau, a German-American jurist and political scientist, says, “the power of man is exercised over the minds and actions of other men”. While the power is the ability to influence another person, the influence consists of a process of affecting the thoughts, behaviour and feelings of another person. The agency or the person that uses power seems to have the authority to do so.
There are several types of authority. To discuss a few, charismatic authority – it is an influence possessed by a person by virtue of their personal magnetism. They have the capacity to gain respect and even adulation to the point of moving followers to make sacrifices; fear may also be a factor. Examples in history include Napoleon, Hitler, Gandhi; rational legal authority – it is power based on established law. People obey the leader or an executive as they accept their power under law, in modern societies, these authority is more prevalent, for example, the authority of Parliament and the Prime Minister; traditional authority – it is based from culture that people often give allegiance to the one who occupy a social, cultural, institutional position, for example British Royal family (although they have little real power) or the tribes who respect their leaders because of tradition; coercive authority – it is the power to use force such as police or military force to demand compliance from the subordinates.
To discuss some popular types of power, the foremost is political power. This consists of legislature, executive and judiciary which are traditionally recognised organs of power in a state. They are formal organs. The compliance secured by them is backed by sanctions. Executive and legislature make various laws together and regulate citizens. Informal organs of political power are political parties, pressure groups, public opinion, popular movements, trade unions, business houses and so on. The second type which many argue determines the first kind is economic power. It is the power emanating from the position of material things especially the means of production and distribution. That is how the big landlords, industrialists and businessmen influence public decisions regarding the fixation of priorities in economic development.
Those who have economic power influence politics in many ways. Their pressure groups are stronger, better organised and more vocal. For instance, the chambers of commerce like FICCI, CII and ASSOCHAM are quite strong in comparison to the unions of workers and farmers which are less strong and the consumer organisations are the least strong. The third type is ideological power. It provides a base for political power. It is promoted by the ruling class in a given society regarding the ‘best system’ of government. Ideology explained in this column before, is a systemic set of arguments and beliefs meant to justify an existing or preferred social order. It provides legitimacy to the ruling classes and helps them maintain their hold on political power. The people extend their approval to the rule of a person and policies under an ideological spell.
Next type is military power. Depending on who uses this power, it can rank at the top in hierarchy or any other position. The military is also called the armed forces or in some countries defence forces. Military is authorised to use deadly force and weapons to support the interest of the state and its citizens. The task of the military is usually to defend the state and its citizens and prosecute wars against the state. Of course, wars are not approved by the United Nations any longer. Military is also used for peacekeeping in a country or as a part of UN Peacekeeping Forces.
Organisational power is the power derived from a person’s position in an organisation and from control over valuable resources afforded by that position. In an organisation, the power is exercised in different forms. They are: power of reward – it is an extent to which a leader can use rewards to control and influence other people; coercive power – it is the degree to which a leader can deny desired rewards or give punishments to control over people and make them follow his orders; information power – a leader has an access to and control information; process power – the leader has full control over the methods of activities and analyses; representative power – this is the right given to someone to represent the organisation; individual power – this is derived from personal characteristics and skills of an individual which are of value to the organisation.
How does one expand power in an organisation? Some of the ways to expand power include: a leader clearly defines roles and responsibilities; provide opportunities for creative problem-solving, innovating and improvising and allowing discretions to colleagues to act; explore different ways of exercise and influence; provide support to individuals so that they become comfortable in developing their own power and expand incentives for thinking and taking initiatives not just following instructions.
Another dimension of power is sharing it which leads to empowerment. In the development sector as well as increasingly in politics and economy, empowerment is the buzzword. Empowerment means sharing power in such a way that individuals learn to believe in their ability to do a particular job. In other words, empowerment provides the fit between the work role and the employee’s beliefs and competence. The second aspect of empowerment is self-determination which means having control over the way one does one’s work. The third component of empowerment is acquiring competence – a belief that one has the ability to do the job well. The fourth aspect of empowerment process is the impact – belief that one’s job makes a difference within the organisation and among the stakeholders.
The guidelines for empowering others consist of expressing confidence in employees, setting high-performance expectations, creating opportunities for participatory decision-making, removing bureaucratic constraints that stifle autonomy and setting inspirational and meaningful goals. However, empowerment is a contentious concept and a process. Because the question is who is empowering whom. Those who are seeking to empower others must possess the power themselves. It may be intellectual power. Trainings provided to empower people must be authentic. EF Schumacher, the legendary economist had profoundly advised, “the best gift one can give to others is the gift of knowledge but before you give it to others, you must acquire it yourself”.
The use of power is a subject of deep discussion. Someone profoundly said, “a great man is one who can have power and not abuse it”. Therefore, legitimate and ethical use of power is the key. The downside of power is its misuse which can cause numerous difficulties. To use power effectively, use it in ethical ways; understand and use all of the various types of power and influence. Seek out jobs that allow you to develop your power skills; use power tempered by maturity and self-control and accept that influencing people rather than coercing them is a smart use of power

Email:-------------------------dr.dkgiri@gmail.com