NATURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF POWER

SIGNIFICANCE OF POWER

• Power is one of the central concepts in political science, similar in importance to the concept of money in economics.
• The focus on power separates the study of politics from other fields like philosophy, history, and law, and moves beyond formal institutions to examine the real motives and objectives behind political activities and institution-building.
• Early political scientist Frederick Watkins stated that the proper scope of political science is not the study of the stateor any specific institutional complex, but the investigation of all associations related to the problem of power.
• William A. Robson emphasized that political science is primarily concerned with the nature, basis, processes, scope, and results of power in society, particularly focusing on struggles to gain, retain, exercise, or resist power.
• The significance of power in politics was acknowledged by both traditional thinkers like Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Nietzsche, as well as modern scholars like Max Weber, Catlin, Merriam, Lasswell, Kaplan, Watkins, Trietschke, and Morgenthau.
• Exponents of the ‘power’ view of politics focus on the acquisition, maintenance, and loss of power.
• Harold Lasswell and Abraham Kaplan defined political science as “the study of the shaping and sharing of power.”
• Max Weber defined politics as “the struggle for power or the influencing of those in power,” covering both national and international politics.
• Michael Curtis observed that politics is an organized dispute about power involving choices among competing values, ideas, persons, interests, and demands.
• The study of politics involves the description and analysis of how power is obtained, exercised, and controlled, the purposes for which it is used, the factors influencing decision-making, and the context in which decisions take place.

MEANING OF POWER

• Bertrand Russell (Power: A New Social Analysis, 1938) defined power as “the production of intended effects,” meaning the ability of a person to fulfill their desires or achieve their objectives.
• In common usage, the term ‘power’ can be applied in various contexts, such as the power of man over nature or material things, and the power of man over man.
• Most theorists of power, including Russell, prefer to restrict its use to ‘power over human beings’.
• H.V. Wiseman (Political Systems: Some Sociological Approaches, 1966) defined power as “the ability to get one’s wishes carried out despite opposition.”
• Stephen L. Wasby (Political Science- The Discipline and its Dimensions, 1972) observed that power involves bringing about an action against the will or desire of another.
• Robert Dahl (Modern Political Analysis, 1991) described power as a kind of influence, exercised when compliance is attained by creating the prospect of severe sanctions for non-compliance.
• These definitions focus on the aspect of power exercised by one person or group over an unwilling party, but they are considered one-sided.
• For power to be effective and stable, it often takes the character of authority, which also includes legitimacy, ensuring willing obedience.
• The use of force, coercion, or sanctions is necessary only when legitimacy fails to function.
• Authority ensures social acceptance and effective implementation of rules, policies, and decisions.
• It is essential to understand the precise relationship between power, authority, and legitimacy.