On the Nature of Power

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Three Theories of Justice

social contract theories

On reserve in the library is a book by J. K. Galbraith on The Anatomy of Power (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983). Power in general Galbraith understands simply to be "the possibility of imposing one's will upon the behavior of other persons." (P. 2) But on this simple account of the general concept, Galbraith builds a very enlightening and useful analysis of the forms (or instruments) of power and of the sources of power.

The forms of power Galbraith divides into three: (i) condign, (ii) compensatory, and (iii) conditioned power.

(i) "Condign power," he says, "wins submission by the ability to impose an alternative to the preferences of the individual or group that is sufficiently unpleasant or painful so that these preferences are abandoned." Or again: "Condign power wins submission by inflicting or threatening appropriately adverse consequences." (Pp. 4, 5.)

(ii) "Compensatory power, in contrast, wins submission by the offer of affirmative reward--by the giving of something of value to the person so submitting....in the modern economy, the most important expression of compensatory power is, of course, pecuniary reward--the payment of money for services rendered, which is to say for submission to the economic or personal purposes of others." (P. 5.)

(iii) "Conditioned power, in contrast [to condign and compensatory power], is exercised by changing belief. Persuasion, education, or the social commitment to what seems natural, proper, or right causes the individual to submit to the will of another or of others. The submission reflects the preferred course; the fact of submission is not recognized. Conditioned power, more than condign or compensatory power, is central...to the functioning of the modern economy and polity, and in capitalist and socialist countries alike." (Pp. 5-6.) (It seems to me that "conditioning power" might be a more apt term than "conditioned power.")

From the forms of power, or equivalently the instruments by which it is exercised, Galbraith turns to the sources of power: "the attributes or institutions that differentiate those who wield power from those who submit to it." These too are three in number: (i) personality, (ii) property (including disposable income), and (iii) organization.

(i) By personality Galbraith means "the quality of physique, mind, speech, moral certainty, or other personal trait that gives access to one or more of the instruments of power" (the sort of thing commonly called "leadership"). To illustrate: "In primitive societies this access is through physical strength to condign power; it is a source of power still retained in some households or youthful communities by the larger, more muscular male. However, personality in modern times has its primary association with conditioned power--with the ability to persuade or create belief." (P. 6)

(ii) Property. The "principle association [of property or wealth], quite obviously, is with compensatory power. Property--income--provides the wherewithal to purchase submission." But there is a secondary association with conditioned power too; for "wealth accords an aspect of authority...and this can invite conditioned submission." (P. 6.)

(iii) "Organization, the most important source of power in modern societies, has its foremost relationship with conditioned power. It is taken for granted that when an exercise of power is sought or needed, organization is required. From the organization, then, come the requisite persuasion and the resulting submission to the purposes of the organization." The state, however, is a notable example of an organization that also has access to condign power--"to diverse forms of punishment." Then too "organized groups [also] have greater or lesser access to compensatory power through the property of which they are possessed." (Pp. 6-7.)

In subsequent chapters Galbraith expands upon this initial characterization of the forms and sources of power and, most instructively, analyzes a number of historical episodes in which the sources and forms of power combine, or recombine, in various ways. A simple, illustrative example (pp. 7-8) will have to suffice here:

In earliest Christian days, power originated with the compelling personality of the Savior. Almost immediately an organization, the Apostles, came into being, and in time the Church as an organization became the most influential and durable in all the world. Not the least of its sources of power was its property and the income thus disposed. From the combination of personality (those of the Heavenly Presence and a long line of religious leaders), the property, and above all, the unique organization came the conditioned belief, the benefices or compensation, and the threat of condign punishment either in this world or the next that, in the aggregate, constituted the religious power. Such is the complex of factors incorporated in and, in great measure, concealed by that term. Political power, economic power, corporate power, military power, and other such references similarly and deeply conceal an equally diverse interrelationship. When they are mentioned, their inner nature is not pursued. My present concern is with what is so often kept hidden.

And that is the well-executed aim of The Anatomy of Power.

In case after case Galbraith explains how a person or group will increase its power by resorting to further instruments of power, sometimes gaining access to other sources of power for the purpose. Corporations, e.g., are organizations primarily possessed of property and hence of compensatory power, but they often extend their power by resort to conditioned power--public relations, advertising, lobbying. The talent in public relations, advertising, and lobbying is generally for hire--that is, for purchase. The modern corporation through an exercise of compensatory power can thus acquire the means to conditioned power, and where this comprises lobbying government officials on matters of legislation or regulation, the corporation stands to win the condign power of the state to its purposes.

One of the principal virtues of The Anatomy of Power is that it singles out conditioned power for separate attention. This is often overlooked or anyhow not kept in clear focus as a form or instrument of power. Once it is so seen, one is able to see its pervasive presence. One is able to see why it is not idle to question the power of the media to condition belief by controlling the flow of information and in particular by shaping the context of interpretation of the information provided. In a democracy powerful elite groups exercise internal control not by violence or torture but by conditioning belief; and this conditioning they achieve, in part, through propaganda in the mass media. If people can be persuaded to adopt the "right" views, they will submit willingly, without force: they will vote in the ways desired by powerful groups and they will approve the policies pursued by them.

Let us be clear. Persuasion, or the effort to persuade, is not, in itself, something to criticise; propaganda is. Propaganda is persuasion that resorts to deception and manipulation to induce belief. It is propaganda that elites often use to persuade the rest of us of the rightness of their views and actions, and this is deserving of criticism.