The concept of power remains elusive both conceptually and empirically
(Hyden 2008). Foucault (1994) called power the ‘most hidden’
part of human relations and the very concept may be ‘essentially contested’,
meaning the subjective assumptions needed to analyse it are
inherently value-dependent (Gallie 1955–6). Stephen Lukes (2004a)
suggests the term itself is ‘polysemic’ and can be defined to include or
exclude a range of phenomena such as authority, influence, coercion,
force, manipulation and domination. And while many analyses of
power cite Robert Dahl’s (1961) classic definition, ‘A has power over
B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not
otherwise do’, others argue this formulation captures only overt, compulsory
forms of power, ignoring more subtle phenomena such as
those encompassed by Bertrand Russell’s (1938) power of ‘propaganda
or habit’ or Gramsciian ‘hegemonic ideas’ operating unnoticed
in the background (Gramsci 2012).