b. Modes of Power

b. Modes of Power

 

To understand the phenomenon of power, let's analyze the characteristics of its operation. If we refer to the characteristics of power operation as "modes of power," then the modes of power can be described as follows.

 

         [Ch.2.9] The mode of power is determined by ① the relative "size of power" held by the political actor and ② the "cohesion force" of the cooperative relation, which are in turn determined by the capacity and benefit of cooperation of each individual involved in the power relation.

          [Ch.2.9a] (Size of power) The greater one's capacity is, the greater their power becomes relative to others.

          [Ch.2.9b] (Cohesion force) The greater the need for the benefit of cooperation, the stronger the cohesion force of the cooperative relation becomes.

 

The following diagram [Diag.2.A.5] will help understand the above content.

 

[Diag.2.A.5] Size of Power and Cohesion Force

 

As seen in the diagram, when anyone is chosen from within the organization (g), the two people are in a cooperative relationship and that is a power relation. For example, the cooperative organization of two friends, such as Peter and Kevin, is the sum of the power relations between Peter and Kevin, Kevin and Ben, and Ben and Peter. In some cases, the power of the two people is almost equal, so we will not say that it is a "power relation" in the everyday sense, but it is. Organizations composed of thousands or tens of thousands of people can also be analyzed in the same way. In such power relations, the size of power (size of power) and cohesion force (cohesion force) mean the following.

 

First, the size of power represents how much power one actor, Peter, holds over another actor, Kevin, in a power relation. This means how much more rules Peter can determine in relation to Kevin, or how much more commands Peter can give to Kevin. The king with more power can give more commands to his subjects. Therefore, the size of power always represents a relative value towards other political actors.

 

The size of this power is determined by the ratio of each subject's capacity, which is called survival capacity (L). If the capacity of one subject is larger than that of another, it has more power, and vice versa. For example, if Peter has twice the political capacity of Kevin, Peter can force Kevin to do two things while Kevin can only force Peter to do one. Generally, if the size of the capacities of Peter and Kevin are M and N respectively, the power of Peter over Kevin is M/N and the power of Kevin over Peter is N/M.

 

Second, cohesion force refers to the degree to which subjects within the power relations participate and are dependent on the power (cooperation) relationship. The cohesion force between political actors is determined by how essential the harvest (cooperation profit) obtained from cooperation is among political actors, and its size is therefore determined. Power is the product of cooperation^[Ch.2.8], and thus the strength of cooperation determines the cohesion force in power relations. If the results desired through cooperation are essential for each political actor's survival, each political actor will be strongly dependent on the power relation, and the cohesion force will become stronger. Similarly, the stronger the cooperation profit, the stronger the cohesion force will be.

 

For example, the cohesion force of cooperation between Peter and Kevin when they are trapped in the mountains and try to survive together is very different from when they cooperate just to get one free movie ticket. This is because the benefit of survival in the mountains is much more essential than the benefit of getting a free movie ticket. This is true both from the position of exercising power and from the position of being dominated by power. Also, the cohesion force of power relations will be very different when the benefit obtained through cooperation is 1,000 won versus 100 billion won. Naturally, the power will be much greater when the expected benefit is 100 billion won.

 

Looking at the [Diag.2.A.5], the power relation between a and b is depicted as a having more power than b because a's capacity is greater than b's capacity. Furthermore, the cohesion force of the power relation between a and b is depicted as being much greater than the cohesion force of the power relation between c and d. However, the cooperation benefits that influence the cohesion force of a and b, and also the cohesion force of c and d, are not shown on the diagram.

 

 

Intuitive Model for Power Mode Calculation

 

Based on this discussion, we can think of an intuitive model that calculates the size of power and cohesion force. It represents the amount of cooperation activities and the mode of power between two political actors a and b, as illustrated below.

 

[Diag.2.A..6] Relative Power According to the Size of Political Capacity

 

In this diagram, the capacity of a is represented by the area of a circle with a radius of M, and the capacity of b is represented by the area of a circle with a radius of N. Also, the distance between the two political actors a and b represents the cohesion force between them. In other words, a shorter length of the line segment ab means that the cohesion force between a and b is large.

 

In this model, the size of power is first represented by the ratio of triangles acd and bcd. Square acbd represents the total activity of the two actors a and b collaborating, where triangle acd is the part that a can decide and triangle bcd is the part that b can decide. Letting the area of each triangle be respectively M' and N', the size of a's power (with respect to b) is M'/N', and the size of b's power (with respect to a) is N'/M'. Therefore, as the size of a's or b's capacity changes, their respective (relative) power sizes also change, as seen in the following example.

 

[Diag.2.A.7] Change of the relative power relation according to the change of each political capacity

 

In [Diag.2.A.7], the political capacity of one of the two political members, a, decreases while the capacity of the other political member, b, increases. As a result, the relative power size of b over a decreases, and the power size of a over b increases. Ultimately, the power relationship between a and b will differ from the original due to the change in the size of M' and N'.

 

On the other hand, the cohesion force is the ratio of the area of the square acbd to the areas of the circles a and b. When the areas of the two circles are constant, it is observed that the area of acbd becomes larger as the length of the segment ab becomes shorter. (Of course, if b is inside the circle a, this will not be the case, but let's exclude this case). Therefore, the cohesion force of the two particles increases as the length of ab becomes shorter.

 

[Diag.2.A.8] Change in the intensity of power (relation) due to change in cohesion force

 

In [Diag.2.A.8], the cohesion force of two political members a and b increased or decreased. In the case of increase, the length of segment ab became shorter and as a result, the area of rectangle acbd became larger. This means that the political harvest (benefit) obtained by both people increased along with the cost (C) they paid. This political harvest is a cooperation profit.