3. POWER: GENESIS, COMPONENTS, FUNCTIONING METHODS

Lecture



The concept of "power" in everyday life and in scientific literature is used in different ways. A deep examination of the issue reveals that the concept of “power” cannot be fully disclosed only from the point of view of economics and politics, law and morality, representing certain aspects of such a multi-layered and at the same time integral phenomenon as power. For this, it is necessary to study power at the most different levels of its functioning in society, history and culture. Solving the paradoxes of power relations and the increment of any new knowledge about the nature of power and the mechanisms of power is perhaps the main task of fundamental political science.

The first attempts to understand the paradoxes and mechanisms of power, in particular, political, were made in the early period of the political history of India, China and Greece. For example, the fact that the ancient Greek word “arche” , meaning “power” or “primacy” , had another meaning - “primordial principle” or “root cause” - apparently, it was not a coincidence, but a vague guess about the nature of power .

Power, unlike physical violence, affects the body, soul, and mind, permeates them, and subordinates them to the law of their will. Essentially, it is like authority. Its correlate is respect; it is of ethical value if and only if it so respects it that it is not able to carry out more higher values ​​without being directly influenced by the authorities. Power needs justification, and these attempts form an essential part of political history.

The concept of power is one of the leading theoretical concepts that promotes the study of political relations and an understanding of the mechanism of state activity and the political system.

Among the major theorists with research on the problem of power, it is first necessary to note:
B. Russell , who interprets power as "creating the intended effect,"
M. Weber , according to which "power is the possibility that one person within a social relationship will be able to exercise his will, despite the resistance of others participating in the action" ,
H. Arendt , who believed that "power means a person’s ability not only to act on his own, but also to interact with other people" ,
P. Morris , who defines power as "not just a way to influence someone or something, but as a process aimed at changing (someone or something) . "
F. Burlatsky is of the opinion that “power is in a general sense the ability and ability to exercise one’s will, it has a decisive influence on the activity and behavior of people through some means - authority, law, violence” .


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Political science

Terms: Political science