Nature, forms, and

Consequences of Power

Lesson 3
“ Knowledge will
give you power, but
character respect ”
-Bruce Lee
*Power
Dahl (1950) defined power in society as
the ability of person A or institution A
to make person B or institution B do
something that person B or institution
B, on his/her/its own, would not do.
From the said definition, power in
society spans a broad spectrum of
meaning that includes force, authority,
influence, and most of the time,
coercion.
*Power
*The fuel of politics.
*The ability to make, or to influence
the making of, those binding
decisions which are the essence of
politics.

*Struggle for power

Distribution of power: how fair? how
equal? how effective?
*Barnett and Duvall ( Pallaver
2011) created the taxonomy
of power with 4 major types
1. Compulsory Power

*The direct control of

one actor of the
conditions and actions
of another.
2. Institutional Power

*The indirect way in

which an actor affects
another. An example is
the use of rules or the
law to impose order.
3. Structural Power

*Basically looks at the

position and the roles
of various actors in
relation to each other.
4. Productive Power

*Similar to structural power

that looks into the relative
position of the actors, the
social production of their
roles, and how the roles
affect the actors’ perceptions
and actions.
*However, productive power
focuses not on the direct
structures provided and
accepted by each actor, but
on the discourse between
the actors in which power is
negotiated.
 TYPES OF POWER
*POLITICAL POWER
-control of, or influence on, the state, ability
to make, or influence, political decisions
*ECONOMIC POWER
-control of economic assets
*MILITARY POWER
-ability to wage war - or to compel others
through intimidation or deterrence
*Activity 1
Give 5 instances where each
of the types of power as
discussed in the skills
workout is expressed
1. ____________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________
5. ____________________________________________________
Activity 2.
In box 1, identify a person who has power over you; in box 2, a
person whom you have power over. Describe what would
happen if one does not respect or misuses it. Write your
answer in the box.

1. _______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________

YOU

_______________________________
2. _______________________________
_______________________________
Activity 3
Make a proposal for a simple
method of controlling or
checking the power of the
government to stop
corruption.