power, with its present spelling, has been in use since the fourteenth century.7 In
our two examples, one agent (an interest group or a country) has acted to bring
about an effect; thus, both have wielded potere/power, with the interest group
affecting its own financial well-being and the country affecting a second country.
A closer examination of power reveals that its exercise by an agent involves
volition (will or choice). In terms of power as the achievement of an objective,
clearly the objective attained must be one that the agent wills or desires; otherwise,
the agent is not said to possess power. If, for example, an interest group
obtains a benefit but has not sought out this benefit, we would not attribute
attaining benefit to the interest group’s power. We might attribute it to luck,
chance, randomness, charity, or some other fluke. Volition is also central to the
second meaning of power, as influence over another agent. For instance, we
would not view an interest group as exercising power over a politician if the
interest group does not compel the politician to act contrary to the politician’s
own volition or desire. Similarly, if one country ordered another country to
perform an act the second country wanted to do anyway, this would not
represent an act of power because the first country has not actually influenced
the second country.8 Clearly, will, desire, and choice enter into the exercise of
power when it is exercised by an agent or over an agent.
Power can either be held in reserve or deployed. That is, it can be latent
(inactive) or manifest (active). You can imagine how the possession of latent
power by one agent can be highly effective in producing changes in a second
agent. In such cases, the mere possibility that the first agent will activate power
can be feared by the second agent and elicit changes in the second agent’s actions.
Indeed, this is the idea behind military deterrence: A country’s stockpile of
weapons may be enough to preclude aggression by its enemies, who know
that the weapons can be changed from a latent power to a manifest power at
any time.9
Political scientists have often tried to sort out the many different forms power
can assume. This is useful in allowing us to analyze the implications of using one
type of power rather than another. However, in actual political relationships one
type of power is rarely found in isolation from other types. In practice, power
generally possesses a blended quality, with one type of power blending into
another. This concept of blending will be clearer as we begin looking at the
actual types of power