What is power? How is it developed? And how do we distinguish power from force and coercion? We often confuse power with force in our day-to-day experience. Power is frequently confused with the ability to compel others to do what we want them to do and not necessarily what is in their best interests. Yet the concept of power is not synonymous with force. On the contrary, people begin to lose their power when force instead of persuasion is their first instinct and mode of action, or when they only consider their own interests and overlook the interests and dignity of others.
Competing Concepts
Let us begin by exploring how influential thinkers conceive power. The 20th century political scientist Robert Dahl identifies power with the ability to make people do something they would not otherwise do. We usually encounter these power relations in established hierarchies, such military, business, and governmental organizations. This definition focuses on the coercive aspects of power, which reflects an example of how power reveals itself in a hierarchical order, most notably authoritarian states. This definition sheds light on the negative aspects of power, on hard power, and overlooks the most important aspect in which power wisely used to promote shared interests and values.
Dahl is not alone in conceiving power this way. His conception of power is rooted in realpolitik, in political realism, which places power at the center of human interests and concerns and deny any connection between power and moral values or the principles of truth. This modern obsession with power is best represented in the philosophy of Fredrick Nietzsche, the German philosopher who authored several books on this topic, including the Will to Power, Beyond Good and Evil, and the Genealogy of morals. Nietzsche presents in his writings a notion of power that focuses on self-discipline and the pursuit of dominance and supremacy. The key terms in Nietzsche’s philosophy are the “will to power” and the “order of rank”. By the will to power he means the inclination people have to dominate others, while the order of rank is none other than promoting social hierarchy. Dominance and social hierarchy became later the creed of the Nazi party in Germany that led the German people to WWII and to an appalling human disaster.
One of the most interesting takes on power was provided by Michel Foucault, the renowned postmodernist philosopher. Foucault believes that power is defused throughout society and cannot be pinned down to any specific individual or institution. It is ultimately located in the discourse that creates a particular meaning. But the truth Foucault talks about is an elusive truth, an unhinged truth bordering on chaos. Truth for Foucault does not have universal or transcendental elements but is rather relative to a particular individual or a cultural group. Postmodernists like Foucault take the opposite end of the Eurocentric modernists who equate universal principles with those embraced by European society.
Power through its Social Manifestations
The first step to understanding the source of power is to realize that power develops over time. It takes considerable time for power to manifest itself, whether we are examining individual or collective power. The individual must focus on their vision and maintain self-discipline for a long time before their power matures and becomes visible. In a similar way, a society must pursue its vision of a better self over generations before its power becomes recognizable.
If Power is not given but grows over time, it must then lie in the spirit and act of leadership. I will discuss leadership in more detail in a subsequent article, but for now I’ll use the term here to indicate a person with creative vision for the future that pursues their vision with conviction, competence, and compassion. A powerful person is a leading personality who is attracted by his moral discipline and creative ideas. A powerful nation, likewise, is a leading society distinguished by its social solidarity and its ability to develop fair and efficient institutions of governance, learning, and justice.
The key conception of power is multi-layered, involving the ideas of character, moral discipline, creative ideas, solidarity, fairness, efficiency, and institutions. We can however simplify the meaning by reducing it to the two most fundamental elements: moral discipline and creative ideas, or values and vision. This brings us back to the notion of truth as we encountered in the previous talk on Truth and Power. [A link to that presentation is available at the end of this video] In the final analysis, power is none other than the manifestation of the truth through human interactions. It is simply the truth being acted out.
Examples of Power
Let us take a couple practical examples to illustrate the above conception of power, at the level of both personal and collective power. Prophets and those who walked in their traditions have anchored society in transcendental values and inspired the people to assume their social responsibility and to limit the excesses of Kings and oligarchs. Joseph, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed faced tremendous difficulties. They began as the underdog in their relationship with their powerful adversaries. In the process, the balance of power shifted in their direction as people saw the determination and courage in the struggle to make life better for people around them.
You may object to using prophets as examples, since their stories are enshrined in mystical narratives. Well, history is full of examples that resemble this rise to power from a humble beginning, including the story of Gandy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcom X. On the other hand, leaders who relied completely on the coercive aspects of power, like Mussolini or General Pinochet, ended up losing everything, and bringing pain and shame to those who walked in their steps.
If we look at examples of societies that become obsessed with power as force, pre-WWII Germany offers one. Germany had all the ingredients for becoming a leading world power. It was the most advanced European society in science, learning, and industry. Its population was highly disciplined with remarkable work ethic and elevated sense of duty and destiny. What it was then lacking is inclusive and fair understanding of social diversity. It failed then to establish social peace even with the small but thriving Jewish minority. By the turn of the 20th century, the rational idealism which was the bedrock of humanism was abandoned and was condemned as a romantic philosophic outlook and therefore irrelevant. Germany embraced instead embraced the philosophy of power propagated by realpolitik philosophers.
Let me conclude by asserting that a well-grounded power is anchored in truth. It is anchored in moral and uplifting visions and universal principles, which nurture the individual and society. It takes a negative form when it is reduced to coercive force. The best way to lose power is to use it excessively and arbitrarily ways. Power will dissipate when it is advanced narrow interests rather than the interests of the great majority. But when it’s applied to uplift the human spirit and improve the human conditions, it flourishes and make life worth living for all who come close to it.
