Conclusion
In this chapter we have explored some of the areas of disagreement between writers who have examined the concept of power and methods of researching the power structure. The conclusion indicated by our survey of the literature is that a decisional approach, although valuable, provides only a starting point for understanding the complexities of power relationships. Conflicts over key issues furnish some evidence about the nature and distribution of power, but this evidence needs to be supplemented by analysis of nondecision-making processes. In many cases, nondecisions take the form of decisions, and can be investigated using the methodology employed by the pluralists. applies, for example, to the forcible suppression of demands, referring issues for study by committees and commissions, and the cooptation of challenging groups. Equally, the way in which political routines produce or reinforce bias, and most instances of how decision-making is affected by anticipated reactions, can be investigated using conventional research methods. More problematic is how to study power when it is exercised to shape people's preferences. This, the third dimension of power, is at once the most important and the most difficult aspect of power to research yet we would argue that despite the problems the effort is worth making, and we have pointed to some ways in which this might be done.
This is an area of study where there are advantages to be gained by applying the approach recommended in Chapter 1, deriving, from the work of Graham Allison, of exploring the extent to which the concurrent use of apparently conflicting theories provides com-Plementary insights. Blowers' use of such an approach in his pollution study influenced one of the authors to try something similar (hill, Aaronovitch and Baldock, 1989). Blowers' observations on the method are instructive:
ConclusionIn this chapter we have explored some of the areas of disagreement between writers who have examined the concept of power and methods of researching the power structure. The conclusion indicated by our survey of the literature is that a decisional approach, although valuable, provides only a starting point for understanding the complexities of power relationships. Conflicts over key issues furnish some evidence about the nature and distribution of power, but this evidence needs to be supplemented by analysis of nondecision-making processes. In many cases, nondecisions take the form of decisions, and can be investigated using the methodology employed by the pluralists. applies, for example, to the forcible suppression of demands, referring issues for study by committees and commissions, and the cooptation of challenging groups. Equally, the way in which political routines produce or reinforce bias, and most instances of how decision-making is affected by anticipated reactions, can be investigated using conventional research methods. More problematic is how to study power when it is exercised to shape people's preferences. This, the third dimension of power, is at once the most important and the most difficult aspect of power to research yet we would argue that despite the problems the effort is worth making, and we have pointed to some ways in which this might be done. This is an area of study where there are advantages to be gained by applying the approach recommended in Chapter 1, deriving, from the work of Graham Allison, of exploring the extent to which the concurrent use of apparently conflicting theories provides com-Plementary insights. Blowers' use of such an approach in his pollution study influenced one of the authors to try something similar (hill, Aaronovitch and Baldock, 1989). Blowers' observations on the method are instructive:
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