Can (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what power is and what types of power exist in a society. Furthermore, political, military and scientific power.

Can — Power allows you to impose your own will within a social relationship.

What is power?

The word power is one of the most used in different areas of society and often with different meanings. It comes from the Latin verb poterewhose origin is found in the expression pot is (“may be” or “it is possible”), where our Spanish verb poder comes from, that is, to be capable of something. So, in principle, the noun power It is the ability of something or someone to make something else possible.

Thus, having power commonly means having the ability to make certain things happen. The powerful (that is, those who have power) are those who make things possible, who determine whether something happens or not. This implies having the necessary capabilities to do so, whatever they may be: social, legal, military, economic, etc.

In our societies, The idea of power is also associated with that of authority. In fact, we call “authorities” those who, through various social and political institutions, grant (ideally) the power or leadership of our societies, so that the most complex decisions are made on behalf of everyone.

But power can also be seized by certain social sectors, or put at the service of selfish interests. Perhaps that is why the German philosopher and jurist Max Weber (1864-1920) defined power as the “probability of imposing one's will within a social relationship, even against all resistance and whatever the basis of that probability.”

Many social sciences are dedicated to the study of power or its mechanisms within society, such as sociology, political science or law. Each of them understands it in their own way and proposes their analysis tools.

Types of power

According to social psychologists John R. French and Bertram Raven, in 1959, power can be classified according to six different “forms”, which are:

Coercive power. One who uses a threat or intimidation to get the other to comply with an authority. This may include physical, social, emotional or economic means, and the coercion does not necessarily have to be evident, nor should the person subject to power be aware of it.
The power of reward. The one who, on the contrary, offers a prize or remuneration to whoever obeys his designs. These rewards can be tangible or intangible, and positive (rewards) or negative (punishments).
The legitimate power. That which emanates from institutions, that is, that comes from a position of authority chosen or appointed in accordance with the law, and not usurped by force. It is a formal power, which occupies a step in the hierarchy of society.
The power of reference. Also known as influence, it is a type of power that depends on the affiliations or groups to which we belong, and is accessed indirectly, that is, by proximity to a power of another type. This is the case, for example, of those who are friends or close to a powerful politician, being able to influence their decisions or obtain preferential treatment from the State.
The expert power. One who builds an authority based on accumulated knowledge, specialized or professional knowledge, or special talents and abilities. It is manifested through credentials, reputation, and other ways of demonstrating experience.
The informative power. That which arises from the control or management that a social actor has over the information that the public consumes, that is, the power to manipulate or manage the information and with it public opinion. However, not only the media possess it, but also people: parents, for example, possess this type of power over their children.

political power

Political power is, in easy terms, the power that copI mean, the power that the people delegate to the State to make on your behalf the most difficult decisions regarding the management of the company. It is the power that public institutions administer, that is, public power. As such, it is organized into three different and independent powers, according to the republican tradition:

The executive power. Also called a government, which is elected in democracies by popular vote and administered by a head of state (usually a President or Prime Minister, but it can also be a King or something), and by his cabinet of ministers and governors and mayors . It deals with the political leadership of the State, that is, with decision-making regarding how to distribute its resources and where to direct society.
The legislative power. Which resides in the Parliament or the Legislative Assembly, within which the different political parties of a nation are represented, in different proportions according to the popular vote that elected them, and which are responsible for giving political debate regarding the laws. and to the administration of budgets, or the approval of special powers for the executive, to mention a few functions. They are a control body, which limits the executive through laws, and which can be made up of one or two debate chambers (deputies and senators).
The judicial power. Responsible for the interpretation of laws within the framework of the norms of the national Constitution, and for exercising the sanctions or reparations necessary to guarantee justice and social peace in the community. It is made up of a hierarchical structure of courts, at the head of which is usually the Supreme Court. The members of this power are not elected by suffrage, but rather designated by the other two powers by consensus.

military power

Military power or military power is the strength and the power of a country's armed forces that is, the sum of the forces of its army, its navy and its aviation, considered from a strictly warlike point of view: who would win an armed conflict or who would lose.

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From very early on, nations depended on their armies to defend their resources or hold their borders. Even today, military powers occupy an important place within the world order, being able to impose certain terms on weaker nations, despite the fact that war is generally resorted to as a last resort.

In that sense, A military power is a nation whose armed forces are powerful, modern and/or well trained and up-to-date..

Power in science

In a field of knowledge very different from the previous ones, such as physics and the natural sciences, we also often talk about “power.” However, it is done in a very different sense, linked to the ability of certain substances or certain processes to subject others to changes determined. Thus, it is possible to talk about, for example:

Heating value. When we talk about the amount of energy calculated per unit of mass or volume of matter, which is released from a chemical oxidation reaction. That is, the amount of heat that the union of the fuel and the oxidizer releases to the environment, and which is the result of the transformation of the chemical energy contained in the molecular bonds of the fuel.
reducing power. When it refers to the ability of certain biochemical molecules to donate electrons to other molecules, when they are in a chemical oxidation-reduction reaction. This means that molecules with reducing power are capable of donating electrons or receiving protons, obtaining a positive electromagnetic charge, that is, reducing themselves. This chemical power is fundamental for the metabolic chain of living beings.