Power

Gal Harpaz, The Open University of Israel
doctorharpaz@gmail.com

From a social sciences perspective, Power is the ability to cause or compel individuals and groups to act in a certain way or to refrain from acting in another way, usually through the use of various sanctions or the threat of such sanctions. Power can manifest as social-political power, which is expressed through threats of economic, social, or other forms of sanctions. The classical concept of power, as formulated by Max Weber, viewed power in political science and sociology as the capacity to influence, lead, dominate, or otherwise have an impact on the life and actions of others in society. He views power as a characteristic of a social actor—an individual, a group, or an institution. This actor uses power against other social actors in order to advance his/her own interests in the face of conflicting interests held by others. Social power is a key explanatory factor in sociological theories and helps to explain how norms and values are reflected in opinions, attitudes, and behaviors. A current definition of the concept of power, presented by the American Psychological Association, is the capacity to influence others, even when they try to resist it. Social power derives from several sources: control over rewards (reward power) and punishments or other force (coercive power); a right to require and demand obedience (legitimate power); others’ identification with, attraction to, or respect for the power holder (referent power); others’ belief that the power holder possesses superior skills and abilities (expert power); and the power holder’s access to and use of informational resources. One of the topics that has attracted a great deal of attention is the evolution and diffusion of opinions on a network. People with diverse social power tend to influence opinions and shape them in complex networks in the current era.

Keywords: influence, social power, max weber

Related Entries: Ideology, Persuasion

References:
American Psychological Association (2018). https://dictionary.apa.org/
Jalili, M. (2013). Social power and opinion formation in complex networks. Physica A: Statistical mechanics and its applications, 392(4), 959-966.‏ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physa.2012.10.013
Uphoff, N. (1989). Distinguishing power, authority & legitimacy: Taking Max Weber at his word by using resources-exchange analysis. Polity, 22(2), 295-322.‏ https://doi.org/10.14520/adyusbd.1612651