Power as a concept in Political Science

A traffic constable waves your rickshaw off a one-way road and you turn back without a word, but if a stranger stood in the same spot and shouted the same order you would probably drive past him. Both men issued an identical command. Only one of them made you obey. The difference between them is what a whole vocabulary in political science — power, authority, legitimacy — exists to explain, and power is where that vocabulary starts.

In two minutes

Power is the capacity of one person or group to make another person or group act — or refrain from acting — in a way they would not otherwise have chosen, whether or not that capacity is accepted as rightful.

The rest of this chapter

The full explanation, the cheat sheet, every previous-year question at every mark weight, the quiz and the answer skeletons are part of Political Science – II: Foundations of Political Obligation on LexBlox Semester. Sign in to unlock the subject, or read Module 1 of Legal Language and Writing free.