Theories of Power

Power

When discussing the topic of leadership, one concept that inevitably keeps coming up is that of power. For many people, power is not a pleasant thing as it has been associated with corruption, domination, and exploitation of the powerless by the powerful. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that when power is applied responsibly, it benefits the society in various ways. Power can be defined as the potential or capacity to influence others in decision making in political, social, or economic arena (Rothman 425). In order to have a broader meaning of power, it is of paramount importance to understand the various sources of power and how power functions in the society. In this regard, this paper shall discuss a few examples of sources of power and the different theories that, explains how power is distributed.

The first type of power is legitimate power, which results from an individual gaining authority through a position, title, or job description. In this type of power, a democratic process is involved in the election of a political leader or official into an office. The elected individual is given legitimate authority to induce those who are being led to perform their duties and obey the set orders or rules (Rothman 426). The second source of power comes from the position one holds in an organization or a political party. Therefore, position power is not dependent on the degree of legitimate power vested in an individual. According to Rothman, position power can be characterized in terms of various factors. These include relevance, referring to the extent to which the tasks assigned to an individual are aligned with the priorities of an organization (428).

The other factor is flexibility, referring to the extent to which...

... middle of paper ...

...aintain their powerful positions. Another theory of power is the ruling class theory. According to this theory, power is vested in those who own and control the means of economic production. Therefore, a Ruling Class can be identified based on the capacity of its members to control the channels through which production, exchange, and distribution of resources take place in the society. This Ruling Class controls and dominates the institutions vested with political power (Power and Politics).

From the above discussion, power as the ability to influence others has many faces, which various writers have tried to identify. Leaders need to understand the different sources of power so that they can be effective in their leadership roles. From the theories of power discussed in the paper, it is clear that power is precious and its exercise calls for responsibility.