Political power: essence and
mechanism of implementation
Outline:
1 Essence and content of power
2 Functions and resources of power
3 Legitimacy of political power
What is power?
Wanted and difficult profession?
What is power?
Source of honored and dishonorable income,
profit, lucre, sphere of privileges
What is power?
Sphere of competition and disputes, claims, conflicts
and wars
What is power?
Sphere of the victories, triumph and achievements
What is power?
Heavy burden, fate, damnation of humankind
Power is one from important kind of social interaction,
specific relation between two or more subjects, one from
which submit direct of other, as a result of submission
ruling subject realizes his will and interests.
Political power is the ability and the right to exercise
decisive influence on political activity and political
behavior of people and their associations with the help of
any means – freedom, authority, rights, violence.
On this basis we can learn the features of
political power:
Representing the political interests of the object of the
social community, which it represents.
Institutional is political solution to the subject of the
problems of society. When a political subject comes into
interaction with other political subjects.
Political activity is the ability to find a means of resolving
social problems.
In the modern political literature there are three aspects of
governance: directive, functional and communicative.
Structure of power:
Subject of power: Object of power:
state and its institute, individual, social
political elite and group, class, people
leaders, political and etc.
parties.
Power
Functions of Resources of
power: Sources of power:
power:
Domination, authority, power,
compulsion,
leadership, prestige, law,
violence,
regulation, rich, charisma,
persuasion,
control, secret, interest
encouragement,
management, and etc.
right, tradition,
coordination, fear, myth and etc.
organization,
mobilization.
Power is divided on politicaleconomicalsocial
spiritual-informational
Characteristics of political power:
1) legality in using power and other means of ruling
within the country;
Characteristics of political power:
2) leadership, obligations of authority’s decision
for all society;
3) presence unity center of making decision;
4) diversity of resources;
Characteristics of political power:
5) publicity, perhaps to appeal to all citizens from
behalf society with help of right;
Functions of power:
Integrative function
One of the basic purposes of power is to integrate the efforts
of various socio-political forces, political parties and public
associations on the platform of nationwide interests. In this
way the authorities are trying to avoid confrontational issues
to prevent conflicts and manage them, directing the course of
political events in a constructive direction.
Functions of power:
Regulatory function
An important purpose of power is the regulation of the society
life. With such tools as law and the system of political
standards governing structures exert political and normative
regulation of all processes of social life.
Motivational function
One of the functions of power is the formation of the motives
of political activities, subjecting to socially meaningful
motives all other ones of political activities of various political
forces and the political and organizational structures.
Functions of power:
Consolidating function
An important purpose of power is to consolidate all
elements of the political system. Taking into consideration
the nature and trends in society, political relations, political
institutions, norms of political life, as well as on the basis of
features political regime functioning and the level of
political culture, authorities are trying to avoid confrontation
and consolidate forms of society. If the power authorities are
unable to consolidate various elements of the political
system, this can cause serious deformations and crises in the
socio-political life.
Functions of power:
Stabilizing function
Power is an important stabilizing force in the organization
of social and political life. The stability of power is reflected
in a constant strengthening of the political system,
continuous updating and development of democratic
political institutions, guarantee and protection of political
rights and freedoms of citizens. It should be noted that
power can be destabilizing under certain conditions in the
development of the political life and the society. This
happens when the old power reveals a complete inability to
manage a state or when the new power is still in the process
of its making and lacks the support of most people.
What are the power resources?
Power resources are a collection of tools, the use of
which provides the impact on the object of power in
accordance with the goals of the subject.
Resources of power:
Economic resources Force resources
The leading role of This kind of resources of
economic resources is political power carries out
defined, first, by that the function maintenance of
political power cannot defense of the country,
simply function, not having protection of the internal order,
including a safety of political
economic resources. For power, non-admission some
political power is always feeble effort on power with a
necessary monetary view of its overthrow. It is
resources. Second, itself army, police, various security
functioning of political services, Office of Public
power, realization of each Prosecutor, court, and also
kind of economic programs technical equipment belonging
demand huge economic to them, the arms, specially
resources. trained people.
Resources of power:
Social resources Information
resources
Social resources are those Information resources. The
resources which are called question is, first of all, mass
to provide support of media. It is the youngest
existing power and interest kind of resources by which
in its existence. Central political power arrange in
place in this system is modern conditions,
occupied, first, with practically in all countries.
prestigious and highly paid
posts which already in
themselves provide high
payment, second, system of
a different sort of privileges.
Resources of power:
Political-legal Demographic
resources resources
Political-legal Demographic
resources are laws, resources are a
constitution, person as the
program documents universal resource
of political party. creating other
resources.
At the present stage of society development power is aimed at a
bigger choice of the resources the application of which is
influences by a subject.
Cultural and information resources such as knowledge,
information are more expanded as well as means of their
promotion. Power stability in a state and on the international
arena largely depends on the effective application of these
resources.
Legitimacy of political power
In connection with the question of political power
it becomes a matter of political stability in
society.
Do people recognize this power?
Is this power necessary and justified?
Is this power legitimate or not?
Legitimacy - (from lat. legitimus-legal,
authorized) is the ability of political power to
achieve social recognition, justifying the chosen
political course.
Max Weber borrowed this term from the field of law to
classification existing types of dominance and singled out
three main types of legitimacy:
Traditional – when power operates by the rules that
were traditional "because it was always so ".
Traditional norms are considered as fixed. The source
of legitimacy is traditional consciousness.
Legal – when the power is based on the recognition of
the established legal norms regulating the relations of
the dominion and conquest. The source is a general
understanding of the rules established by law.
Charismatic – when power is based on the faith of the
masses in the personal abilities of the political leader.
The source is personal authority of a Governor.
Based on a comparison of the existing political systems
David Easton singled out the following types of legitimacy:
Ideological – when power relies on conviction or belief of
people in those ideological values which the authorities have
declared. The source is ideological values.
Structural – when people appreciate the mechanisms and
norms of the existing system of governance. The source is
specific political structures.
Personalised – occurs in a moral endorsement of the people
that are in power (intersects with the charismatic type).
In a real policy these types of legitimacy of power tend to
complement each other.
Thank you for your
attention!
