Power: meaning, aspects, sources and kinds

1. Meaning

Power is the capacity to make others act as one wishes, or to control outcomes, even against their will. Modern political science treats it as the central concept of politics; Harold Lasswell called politics the study of “who gets what, when, how” (Politics: Who Gets What, When, How, 1936).

• Max Weber (Economy and Society): power is “the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance”.
• Bertrand Russell (Power: A New Social Analysis, 1938): power is “the production of intended effects”; he called it the fundamental concept in social science, as energy is in physics.
• Lasswell and Kaplan (Power and Society, 1950): power is participation in the making of decisions backed by severe sanctions.
• Robert Dahl (“The Concept of Power”, 1957): “A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do.”
• Hans Morgenthau (Politics Among Nations, 1948): power is man’s control over the minds and actions of other men; in international politics, interest is defined in terms of power.

2. Characteristics

1. Relational. Power exists between persons or groups; one has power over someone.
2. Situational. A person may be powerful in one field (business) and weak in another (elections).
3. Based on sanctions. Behind power lies the ability to reward or punish.
4. Potential as well as actual. Power can be held in reserve; the threat often suffices.
5. Relative and changing. It grows and declines with resources and circumstances.
6. Neutral in itself. Power can be used for good or ill; Lord Acton warned that “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (letter to Bishop Creighton, 1887).

3. Aspects (forms) of power

Power is exercised in several ways, from the crudest to the most subtle:

• Force: physical compulsion: arrest, imprisonment, military action. It is the last resort of the State; Weber defined the State as the human community that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory (“Politics as a Vocation”, 1919).
• Coercion: threat of force or deprivation; compliance out of fear.
• Influence: the capacity to affect decisions without command, through prestige, expertise or position. Influence persuades; power compels.
• Persuasion: changing behaviour by argument and appeal to reason or interest.
• Manipulation: shaping choices without the other’s awareness, through propaganda or control of information.
• Authority: power accepted as legitimate (see the next note).

Steven Lukes (Power: A Radical View, 1974) gave three dimensions: power over decisions (who wins visible conflicts), power over the agenda (keeping issues off the table), and power over wants (shaping what people believe they want).

4. Sources of power

1. Knowledge and expertise. “Knowledge is power” (Francis Bacon). Bureaucrats, technocrats and scientists derive power from what they know.
2. Wealth and economic resources. Ownership of land, capital and industry gives control over employment, media and political funding. Marx treated economic power as the basis of all political power.
3. Organisation. Parties, unions and pressure groups multiply the power of individuals; an organised minority can defeat an unorganised majority (Mosca, Michels’ “iron law of oligarchy”).
4. Numbers. In a democracy, votes are power; mass movements draw strength from numbers.
5. Office and position. Holders of constitutional and legal offices wield power by virtue of the post.
6. Personality. Charisma, eloquence and character (Gandhi, Nehru) attract followers.
7. Ideology and religion. Belief systems mobilise people and justify commands.
8. Military force. Control of armed forces and police.
9. Information and media. Control of communication shapes public opinion.

5. Kinds of power

Other classifications often asked:

• Legitimate and illegitimate power: power exercised according to accepted rules (authority) versus usurped power (a coup).
• Formal and informal power: power of an office versus power of influence (a party leader without office).
• Political power itself is divided into legislative, executive and judicial power (Montesquieu’s separation of powers, The Spirit of the Laws, 1748).
• National power (in international relations): geography, population, natural resources, industrial capacity, military strength, national character and quality of diplomacy (Morgenthau’s elements).

6. Power and the State

The State is distinguished from other associations by its power: it alone can compel obedience by force within its territory. Karl Loewenstein (Political Power and the Governmental Process, 1957) described constitutionalism as the effort to limit and divide political power through a written constitution, separation of powers and accountability. In India, power is divided between the Union and the States (Seventh Schedule) and among the three organs, and subject to judicial review.

How this is examined

January 2026 (100 marks) Q.7: “What is meant by power? Explain its types”; January 2026 (80 marks) Q.4(a): “Explain the sources of power”; February 2025 Q.4(a): “Explain the kinds of power”; August 2024 Q.4(a): “Define power and explain its kinds”. Give two or three definitions, then the forms, sources and kinds; the table makes the kinds answer quick to write.