FOUR TYPES OF POWER

Power has always been the most basic notion in the study of politics, and it continues to
be so today. One definition of power is the capacity to influence an event or result so that it
enables the agent to accomplish a goal and persuade another agent to behave in a way that the
second agent would not choose to act if it were acting on its own. Political power forms and
exerts control over society—the public's perception of the leader and the governing system.
Being a leader requires the ability to persuade others and inspire them and influence their
decisions by instilling in them the belief that the person in authority is working in their best
interests and their own.
Different types of power exist in our society. The first kind of power is force, in which
physical means are employed to impose control. In Naga City, fortunately, there is yet no
scenario in which it is necessary to apply violence in order to carry out force. Anakbayan,
Kilusang Mayo Uno - Manggagawang Bikolano, and Gabriela are just a few of the organizations
that engage in large protests against tyranny and injustice. One of their civil rights movements
was to launch protest in the call for the junking of the Anti-Terrorism Bill, SONA 2021 protest,
Karapatan ng magsaksaka, and a variety of other activism. Furthermore, there are other
occurrences, such as jeepney strikes, that demonstrate nonviolent power in addition to this.
Having this kind of authority, in my view, is intended to bring the Filipino people together in
order to fight for the National Democratic Struggle.
The next type is persuasion; for example, now that we are in the middle of the pandemic,
the local government of Naga implemented a policy against individuals who do not adhere to
health protocols, such as wearing a facemask outside their home, in order to protect themselves.
Every individual who is found to be in violation of the policy will be subject to a fine of more
than a thousand pesos. In the same way, if a pedicab driver does not adhere to the restriction of
one passenger per pedicab, they will face the same penalties. Moreover, the Mayor makes
speeches or public statements about laws and regulations, as well as the planned investment
strategy for Naga City.
The third face of power is manipulation. It is the person's capacity to exert control over
his or her environment and possibilities in order to motivate him or her to act. Manipulative
power operates through influencing the environment and working via the perspective of another.
My present city has no evidence of manipulation, while I have seen it on a national level. One
scenario that I can offer as an example is the one that exists at our another residence at
Calabanga, Camarines Sur. As far as those in power are concerned, since most of the people in
our barangay are uneducated, they believe and obey without question whatever is stated to them
and whatever decisions are made. They have grown used to false promises and have never had
the chance to see the positive improvements that have taken place in our barrio. However, the
public are led to believe that the barangay officials are acting in the best interests of and for the
benefit of the people, while in reality, they are just doing the absolute least to fulfill their
responsibilities.
The last type is exchange. Power including incentives is exemplified by the exchange of
an item between two agents, where one agent provides one thing to the other in exchange for
another. During elections, this is a fairly frequent occurrence. In our area, my family members
have previously experienced being bribed with money in return for their votes. Another example
is government agencies that take bribes in exchange for processing applications or papers more
quickly, such as the LTO and BIR, among others. Exchange Power is present in almost all of our
daily activities, such as commercial transactions in which we say, "I will give you Y if you
perform or produce X," or "I will give you Y if you do X."