PO110 Lecture Notes - Proletariat, Bourgeoisie
Document Summary
Political scientists have generally treated power in one of two ways: either as power to do something or as power over something: This connotes the capacity to realize personal or collective goals or, being empowered . The popular notion that, in democratic systems, power ultimately is in the hands of citizens conveys the idea of power to realize social consensus and collective goals through democratic institutions, such as fair elections. Political cynics believe this idea of power to is na ve, arguing that people are led to believe that they can change political outcomes when things are already determined by capitalist class. Power to = b realizes they have empowerment. (example: fall of the soviet union) Power over: a has power to the extent that a makes b do something that b would not otherwise do. A has power over b to the extent that he can get b to do something that b would not otherwise do.
