While the extent of elite cohesion remains a key variable affecting the ability of states to set goals, the second dimension of self-control pertains to the relative power of various societal groups within a country. To determine the relative power of groups, it is necessary to examine three distinct sets of issues relating to the social structures of a given country. First, it is necessary to establish the extent and pattern of structural cleavages simply to paint a “social map” of the country’s patterns of political, economic, and social interaction. Second, the strength of existing state managers must be discerned at two levels: (1) the extent of support that state managers can garner from certain privileged elites in society, and (2) the extent of power that the state managers and their supporting elites in combination possess vis-à-vis other mobilized social groups in society who may seek national goals different from those being currently pursued. Third, the existence of other latent groups, which may share affinities based on class, religious, linguistic, ethnic, or regional divisions, must be discerned. Their potential for mobilization must be assessed and the consequences of their mobilization for the future of
the national goals associated with the pursuit of power must be analyzed.