SOSC1850/Ku

Topic 6: Power and Politics

I. POWER

-Politics: the process of deciding “who get what, when & how”
-Politics occurs when there are differentials in power
-Focus: nature & distribution of power in society—Who hold power; how is power used?

(1) The Weberian Conception of “Power”

- “the chance of a man (person) or a number of men (persons) to realize their own will in
a communal action even against the resistance of others who are participating in the
action;”

(a) Those who hold power do so at the expense of others. [Zero-sum game]
(b) Power holders will tend to use power to further their own interests.

[Q: If we give CONSENT to the government’s legal requirement that citizens carry ID cards with
them in public places, would we say the government has exercised power over us?]

-2 Forms of Power:
l authority (legitimate power) – perceived as just and right
l coercion (illegitimate power), by means of force or threats

Implications on Measurement of Power

l Power is measured in terms of one’s ability to achieve one’s wishes and preferences
(despite resistance from the others) —actual decisions and consequences.

l In politics, the power of a group is measured in terms of how far the government
conforms to the wishes and policy preferences of the group.

(2) Lukes - A Radical View (adopted by Marxist sociologists)

Power has 3 dimensions or faces:

a) Decision making (the Weberian measurement)

-If the government’s decision follows the policies advocated by X (or party X), it
shows X (or party X) has more power over the others. (e.g. Party X advocates
increasing public housing and Party Y opposes.)

b) Non-decision making
-action taken before the decision (e.g. agenda setting)—the prevention of certain issues
from being discussed (e.g. could there have been more options?)

-action taken after the decision—the prevention of certain decisions from being taken
(e.g. delay, lack of commitment, lack of resources)

c) Shaping desire (ideological power)

-power can be exercised by manipulating the wishes and desires of social groups (e.g.
an ideology of self-reliance) [This is an arguable point.]

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“A exercises power over B when A affects B in a manner contrary to B’s interests.”

Focal point in defining power: “Who benefit?” and/or “Who suffer?”

II. STATE THEORIES (Focus: Western Democracies)

[The notion of the state embraces much more than the popular notion of government. It
refers to the whole apparatus of rule or the realm of supreme authority within society
including the administration, legislature, police, army, judiciary, constitution etc.]

State-Society Relations—Strong State vs. Weak State

(a) A “strong state” is one which can implement its decision against societal resistance,
from even the most powerful private groups.
(b) A “weak state” cannot easily implement its decision owing to societal resistance, lack
of resources or a pluralist-democratic system that keeps power in check & balance.

Who have political power? What is power for? Role of the state
Pluralism
Elitism
Marxism

1. Pluralism

• Power: zero-sum concept (conflicts of interest)

• Dispersion (vs. Concentration) of Power in Western Democracies

- Freedom of the individual

- Existence of numerous interest groups
(e.g. professional associations, trade unions, women’s groups, religious groups)
- Overlapping memberships of groups

Dispersion of Power («Democracy: rule by the people)

(a) Power is in the hands of the people (vs. the elite), especially the numerous interest
groups & political groups which seek to exert power or influence over or through
the government.

(b) Power is dispersed among different people/groups in the sense that different groups
have the chance to compete for power—some win at one time & others win at other
times.

(c) Power is dispersed among multiple interests (vs. single interest of a permanent
majority e.g. workers’ interests).

Since each person has divergent interests which may overlap with others’ interests,
instead of a permanent majority with single interest (e.g. worker vs. capitalist),
there will be changing majorities with multiple and overlapping interests (e.g. some
workers are also property-owners, religious people, anti-discrimination activists, &

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members of parents’ association). If there is a permanent majority, it could lead to

the tyranny of the majority at the expense of the minority.

Democracy would become unworkable if one division in society comes to

dominate all others. For example, in Northern Ireland, the population is split
between a majority of Protestants and a minority of Catholics. Most individuals
identify very strongly with their religious groupings such that other interests are
seen to be of secondary importance.

(d) Within the government, power is dispersed among different institutions (for
ensuring checks and balances, and for preventing abuses of power):
-the administration; the legislature/ parliament; an independent judiciary

• Ways of exercising power & influence by political & interest groups:

~election
~petition; protest
~donations to parties
~others: lobbying; public opinion campaign; advisory committee membership etc.

• Political parties in democratic societies are representative because the parties in power
are elected by and hence accountable to the public (the electorate).

• Decision-making: a complex process of accommodation, bargaining & compromise

among the demands of various political parties & interests groups attempting to
influence the government

• Role of the state: like a neutral “broker”, negotiating among the different political
groups, and ensuring that all of them have some influence on government policy at
different times

Criticisms
a) overlooking unequal distribution of resources among different groups resulting in
unequal competition

[Neo-pluralists recognize that particular interest groups e.g. big business, exercise
greater political influence on government policy; yet they also maintain that there exist
a significant number of diverse interest groups influencing the political process.]

b) overlooking unrepresented or unorganized interests (e.g. unemployed

people)—assuming that political parties are representative of the public

c) little involvement of the majority of the people in the decision-making

process—usually there are a limited number of leading persons taking an active role
within a group

d) one-dimensional conception of power, overlooking the second and the third faces of
power (second face: e.g. social issues being kept off the public agenda or
decision-making process; third face: e.g. ideologies & power of the mass media)

e) assumption about an open power structure with a neutral state— is it true? Does the
state have interests of its own, & some shared interests with certain groups?

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Neo-Pluralism/ Elite Pluralism

-It holds that power is generally dispersed & Western societies are basically democratic.

-Yet it differs from the classical pluralist theory in that:

(1) It does not accept that all members of society have exactly the same amount of power.
(2) It considers not only the first face but also the second face of power.
(3) It sees elites, the leaders of groups, as the main participants in decision making.

It comes to terms with the growth of corporate power and state bureaucracy (moving more
and more toward an elite theory …)

Still, it believes that in modern democracies it is possible for interest groups to raise
political agenda in the policy process even against the wishes of the government and other
organized interests.

2. Elitism

• Concentration of Power (ruling elite)

Mills: The Power Elite (1956)

Research focus: American society in the 1950s

Elite rule: not inevitable, but a fairly recent development in the USA

An institutional (not psychological) explanation:

-the elite hold power not because of their exceptional personal qualities but because of
their institutional position

Those occupying the command posts in the critical institutions:

l the major corporations
l the military, &
l the central government

The state: part of the power elite, who have political power and who have their own
interests to take care of

Formation of the Power Elite (as a cohesive group):

- common interests
- common socio-economic background (e.g. class; ethnicity; religion; educational,
kinship & marital ties; social life)
- interchange of personnel among the 3 groups of elites (e.g. a corporate director
becomes a politician and vice versa)

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Evidence of Elite Self-Recruitment

- Studies in Britain by others: those occupying in elite positions are recruited among
people with similarly privileged socio-economic backgrounds. It's very likely that
children of elite members are themselves recruited to elite positions.

Elite Dominance
- a power elite of "unprecedented power and unaccountability"

C. Fragmented Elites [Budge et al. (1983)]

- the elite: not a united group

- a large number of different fragmented elites competing for power
- but power is still concentrated in the hands of the elites

D. Criticisms

(a) Assumption of the ordinary people as a passive, apathetic & unorganized mass – to
what extent is it true?

(b) Critique from the Marxists: The elite theory fails to identify the underlying basis for
power, which is ownership of the means of production.

3(A) Classical Marxism

-Concentration of power (ruling class/ capitalists)

-Power: used to further the interests of capitalists

Superstructure—political & ideological relations e.g. state, education, law, religion

Infrastructure—(economic) relations of production

-The state (as part of the superstructure) is determined & conditioned by the economy.
-The state serves to consolidate the economic structure.

[Example: High Land Price Policy before 1997 – the state had control over the supply of
land; the idea & scheme of homeownership promoted by the government; the process of
privatization of the public housing estates.]

-The capitalists - owners of the means of production

l vis-a-vis the workers: exploitation
l vis-a-vis the state: since they control the productive resources in the society, they may
exercise power over & through the state

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-Role of the State in Capitalist Society:

w to preserve the existing economic (property) relations
w to further the interests of the capitalists
w to control the proletariats & to dampen working class activism

[Q: How do the government’s land and housing policies help further the interests of the
capitalists and dampen working class activism?]

-the capitalists (the ruling class)

-the state actors (the governing elites)

-Engels: democracy in a capitalist society is an illusion

Unanswered Questions:

(1) What explain the existence of welfare provision in capitalist societies?

(2) Does the state have autonomy vis-a-vis the ruling class? Does the state have its own
interests?

(3) Why do the working class accept a state which acts against their interests?

3(B) Contemporary Marxism

3B.1 Instrumentalist View (Miliband 1969)

The state acts as the direct instrument of the capitalists the state is used to preserve the
latter’s economic dominance, maintain their political power and stabilize capitalist society
by preventing challenges from the working class.

[Evidence: (i) business background of many of the cabinet members in the US—direct
interference by the capitalists; (ii) state action benefits the ruling class etc.]

-State: some degree of autonomy—serving the capitalist interests on behalf of the capitalists
but not working under their direct command or control.

Q: Why would the majority of the people accept the state which works in the interests of
capitalists? [the third face of power] —the process of legitimation

Legitimation as a disguise - workers’ challenges prevented

(a) Ideology - the capitalist class seeks to “persuade society not only to accept the policies it
advocates but also the ethos, the values and the goals which are its own, the economic
system of which it is the central part, the ‘way of life’ which is the core of its being.”

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Example: advertising (e.g. private residential estates, banks)—appeals to the values of

material comfort, love and concern, reliability & economic security etc. while disguising the
exploitative and oppressive nature of capitalism

(b) Welfare provision by the state (e.g. public housing)

-In HK, the provision of public housing in the 1960s & 1970s had enhanced the legitimacy
of the government. In effect, it helped keep wages down among the working class, which
helped maintain a competitive economy at that time and which worked in the interests of
the capitalists.

3B.2 Structuralist View (e.g. Poulantzas 1969)

-structural predetermination—the maintenance of the capitalist system

Criticisms about instrumentalist view:

The ruling class need not occupy elite positions within the state to exercise power: “the
capitalist state best serves the interests of the capitalist class only when members of this
class do not participate directly in the state apparatus, that is to say when the ruling class is
not the politically governing class.”

Relative Autonomy of the State

The state requires a certain amount of freedom and independence to serve ruling-class
interests:

(a) to act in the common interests of the capitalists by mediating among them in case of
internal conflicts of interests among them

(b) to act in the long-term interests of the capitalist system as a whole (vs. the short-term
interests of individual capitalists)

(c) to present a united front of the general interests of the capitalists vis-à-vis the workers

(d) to stand ready to make concessions to the workers to defuse working-class resistance

(e) to appear to work in the interests of the general public – the creation of myth

Functions of the Capitalist State

(1) To unite an otherwise fragmented capitalist class (relative autonomy)

(2) To dampen the unity of the working class

[Example: a highly differentiated and stratified housing sector]
-creating differences among the workers (e.g. those on mortgage vs. those not)
-motivating people to work harder to clear the mortgage & to move up the “housing
ladder”]

(3) To get the support of the other classes for capitalistic development
[Example: encouraging the middle classes to buy apartments]

(4) Ideological function: disguise its partisan role in the name “public interest” or “unity”

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Criticisms
(a) “structural super-determinism” (unable to explain differences in state forms—e.g.
between a democratic and an authoritarian state—within capitalist systems)

(b) not backed by empirical evidence; impossible to prove or disprove (the difficulty: any
action of the state can be interpreted one way or another as benefiting the capitalists—if
it’s directly in the interests of the capitalists, or if it’s so indirectly by means of
concessions to the workers)

General Criticisms on Marxism

• other important sources of power other than economic power?

• differences among different states within the capitalist systems?

3B.3 Capitalist Mode of Production (MOP) View - Offe

Two contradictory tasks of the state:

(i) the maintenance of the capitalist system [economic]
(ii) legitimacy [political]

(i) Economic (the institutional self-interest of the state):

-To safeguard the vitality of economic development and capital accumulation so as to
ensure the inflow of resources from the private sector to the public sector.
-To oversee capital accumulation & ensure a favorable process of economic development
(=> state intervention in times of economic crisis).

(ii) Political: To enhance its legitimacy by means of welfare provision etc, which will mean
an increase in public expenditure and taxation. [This often creates a tension with its
economic role.]

Implications:
-Due to its contradictory role, there is no guarantee that the state will function well.
-How (well) the state performs depends on the capacity of the state for rational
administration—the internal structure of the state, the personnel staffing the state machinery
etc.

Examples:
-the messy and confusing housing policy after 1997 (the initial target of building 85,000
apartments every year was heavily criticized by people from all sides; and the Chief
Executive later stated that the policy had ceased to exist for some time without announcing
the change or explaining why)