Power in Construction of Law

How does power contribute to the construction of law, both on the books and in action?

Power, the ability to influence others and the course of events, affects laws and

shapes cultural beliefs in society. In our society, power is said to be equally distributed

throughout the people, and there is a democratic belief that collective action is able to

create change. However, collective power is heavily influenced by the wealthy. Those

with power have the resources to influence the creation and termination of law, both on

the books and in action. Power, ultimately controlled by the wealthy and elite, shapes the

construction of laws to benefit them and their values, in order to maintain the dichotomy

between themselves and the less powerful.

While some of the more obvious, tangible foundations of power include money,

capital and property, Galanter discusses additional aspects of power in its definition and

its benefits. Galanter explains the differences between the “haves”, or the repeat players,

and the “have-nots”, or the one-shotters. In this analogy, the former is equivalent to the

powerful, and the latter to the powerless. The repeat players, according to Galanter, have

the advantage because they know the rules, have previous experience, have both legal

and financial resources, and have much less to lose than the one-shotters. All of these

assets together demonstrate the “superior opportunities” (Galanter 82) of the powerful

repeat players over the powerless. Galanter explains, “To the extent that rules are

evenhanded or favor the ‘have-nots’, the limited resources for their implementation will

be allocated, I have argued, so as to give greater effect to those rules which protect and

promote the tangible inte...

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