Power: Define Power (Learning Competencies)

POWER
DEFINE POWER (LEARNING COMPETENCIES)

WHAT IS POWER?
Some social scientists define it as the IT IS NOT EASY TO EXPLAIN
use of force whereas many others THE MEANING OF ‘POWER’,
explain it as the capacity to secure MORE PARTICULARLY IN
the desired goals through the use of THE CONTEXT OF HUMAN
force or threat of use of force or even
by exercising influence. RELATIONS. WE ARE
• “Power is the power of man on ENCOUNTERED WITH MANY
others” and as a “man’s control DIFFERENT EXPLANATIONS
over the minds and actions of other IN VARIOUS DISCIPLINES.
men.” —Morgenthau EVEN WITHIN A SINGLE
• “Power is the capacity to impose SOCIAL DISCIPLINE, POWER
one’s will on others by reliance on
effective sanctions in case of non- IS DEFINED IN SEVERAL
compliance.” — Schwarzenberger DIFFERENT WAYS.
But in politics “Power” describe as

An authority held by a group
within a society that allows for the
administration of public resources
and implement policies for
society. Power may be acquired
as a means of governmental
direction or in opposition to a
government group.
RECOGNIZE THE NATURE, DIMENSIONS, TYPES,
AND CONSEQUENCES OF POWER (LEARNING
COMPETENCIES)
• What is National Power?

• After having understood the meaning of power, it
becomes quite easy to define National Power.
• “National Power is that combination of power
and capability of a state which the state uses for
fulfilling its national interests and goals.” —
Padelford and Lincoln
• “National Power denotes the ability of a nation to
fulfill national goals. It tells us as to how much
powerful or weak a particular nation is in securing
its national goals.” —Hartman
• In simple words, it can be said that National Power is
the ability or capability of a nation to secure the
goals and objectives of its national interests in
relation with other nations. It involves the capacity
to use force or threat of use of force or influence
over others for securing the goals of national
interest. In this way, we can define National Power
as “the ability to control the behaviour of other
states in accordance with one’s own will.” National
Power is the currency of international relations.
TYPES OF POWER
• Coercive Power- This kind of power involves the usage of
threat to make people do what one desires. In the
organizational set up, it translates into threatening
someone with transfer, firing, demotions etc. it basically
forces people to submit to one’s demand fo
• Reward Power- As the name suggests, this type of power
uses rewards, perks, new projects or training
opportunities, better roles and monetary benefits to
influence people. However an interesting aspect of this
type of power is that, it is not powerful enough in itself, as
decisions related to rewards do not rest solely with the
person promising them, because in organizations, a lot of
other people come into play like senior managers and
board.r the fear of losing something.
• Legitimate Power- This power emanates from an
official position held by someone, be it in an
organization, beurocracy or government etc. The
duration of this power is short lived as a person can
use it only till the time he/she holds that position, as
well as, the scope of the power is small as it is strictly
defined by the position held.
• Expert Power- This is a personal kind of power which
owes its genesis to the skills and expertise possessed
by an individual, which is of higher quality and not
easily available. In such a situation, the person can
exercise the power of knowledge to influence
people. Since, it is very person specific and skills can
be enhanced with time; it has more credibility and
respect.
• Referent Power- This is a power wielded by
celebrities and film stars as they have huge
following amongst masses who like them, identify
with them and follow them. Hence, they exert
lasting influence on a large number of people for a
large number of decisions; like from what car to buy
to which candidate to choose for a higher office in
the country.
• So, power can be defined in a number of ways
however what is important is the usage of the
power by people who possess it. Within the
organizational context the power dynamics and
equations need to be carefully managed as they
have a huge impact on the motivation and
engagement level of employees..
• It also defines the organization’s culture in general
and people transactions within the organization in
particular. A very hierarchy and power driven
organization finds it difficult to accommodate new
and innovative ideas, any change is vehemently
refused, egos clash and lesser opportunities are
made available for the high performers, thus
delaying organizational growth. On the other hand,
in an organization which is flat in structure, people
are encouraged to innovate and explore, thus
bringing in new concepts and ideas to accelerate
organizational growth and expansion

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POWER

DEFINE POWER (LEARNING COMPETENCIES)

But in politics “Power” describe as

• What is National Power?

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