No government can ever exist without power. It is central to all the affairs of men- political or not. In fact, Keltner, Gruenfeld, and Anderson (2003) stated that power is a basic force in social relationships.
Power emerges to be a universal and an unavoidable aspect of human social life and structure. It is found to be at work in all political, organizational and institutional life and in every social relationship (Turner, 2005). But what exactly is power? What are its nature, dimensions, types, and consequences?
It is thus seen as the exercise of authority in the state. Personal relationships are also characterized by power, whether you are conscious of this or not. You can notice how power is practiced in everyday life, even in the most ordinary situations.
Meaning and Nature of Power
In its widest sense, power is one’s ability to achieve a desired outcome. Yet, in political terms, power is the ability to influence another—the way one thinks or behaves—in a manner not of his or her own choosing (Lasswell 1936). It thus involves one’s capacity to get things done, and to make someone do something he or she would not otherwise do.
Political power involves three interrelated concepts: legitimacy, authority, and sovereignty. According to Roskin et al. (2012), legitimacy refers to the people’s perception that their government rules rightfully, and thus must be obeyed. Sovereignty, on the other hand, speaks of the ability of a national government to be the sole leader, which has the last word of law in that society. Lastly, authority is seen as the political leader’s ability to command respect and exercise power.
Power is the capability to control and influence people’s behavior as well as the capability to direct the path and result of events (Oxford University Press, 2015). Power can be perceived as good or bad, just or unjust, and its exercise is accepted and acknowledge since the beginning of time.
Dimensions of Power
Power comes from different faces or dimensions. It can be considered as decision-making, agenda setting, or thought control as per Heywood, 2013.
First, Power as decision making – power is perceived as the influence on the content of decisions. Who decides, what to be made, and how to execute such decision all involve power.
Second, Power as agenda setting – power involves the ability to set or control political agenda, highlighting one at the exclusion of other issues.
Third, Power as thought control - Power is seen as an ideological indoctrination or a psychological control where one has the ability to change or shape how another thinks or behaves.
Types of Power and their Consequences
John French and Bertram Raven (1959) introduced the five forms of power: Coercive, Reward, Legitimate, Referent, and Expert. However, in 2004, Raven came up with the sixth form of power, Informational Power. They called this the bases of power (Raven, 2004; 2010).
Reward Power. Persons who are in power are able to give out rewards. Often, these rewards are in form of promotions, added benefits, salary increase, training opportunities, or compliments. This form of power is based on the thought that people are more inclined to do things well when they are getting something in return. The strength of reward power depends upon the likelihood that O can intervene with the reward as perceived by P. inversely put, the downside with this type of power is when reward does not have enough perceived value t others, the power is weakened. In other words, the reward that has offered by O must meet the perceived value of P in order for P to be motivated to do what O requires. Another downside of reward power is that, for reward to be an effective means of influencing people to do a certain task, it has to be bigger than the last previous one in order to have the same effect. Also, rewards should only be given when necessary because people can become satiated by rewards when given on a regular basis.
Coercive Power. This form of power is based upon the idea of compulsion, which means that someone is forced to do something against their will. Coercion is applied when O wants P to comply. According to French and Raven there are also other forms of power that can be used in coercive manner such as withholding rewards or expertise or using referent power to threaten social exclusion. This form of power often leads to problems because this is often abused. Ultimately, this type of power can lead to unhealthy behavior and dissatisfaction at work.
Legitimate Power. This power gives the elected, selected, or appointed position of authority the ability to administer to other people a certain feeling of obligation or notion of responsibility. Leaders can reward or punish subordinates as they are seen as a legitimate part of the formal or appointed leadership role. The downside of this type of power is that whenever leaders lose their title, they also lose their power to persuade or influence their subordinates.
Referent Power. This power stems from the perception of P that O has a legitimate right to influence P and that P has an obligation to accept this influence (French and Raven, 1959). According to Van Vliet (2010), this form of power is about management based on the ability to administer to someone as sense of personal acceptance or approval. Leaders in this form of power are often seen as role models and their power is often treated with admiration or charm.
Expert Power. The force of the expert power of O over P differs with the extent of the knowledge or perception which P attributes to O within a given area. Probably P evaluates O’s expertise in relation to his own knowledge as well as against an absolute standard (French and Raven, 1959; Raven 1992;2004; and 2010). The fact is that if someone has a particular expertise within organization.
Informal Power. This power is the ability of O to cause changes through sources of information. Information is a form of influence and social power by providing information to a person resulting them to think and act in different way.