Lukes- Precis 1 - Summary Power - a Radical View: Studies in Sociology PDF

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A breakdown of the three dimensions as presented by Steven Lukes....

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Al4302: Politics and Public Policy

Coursework-1: Precis Steven Lukes' “Power- A Radical View” (1974) discusses the social reality of power and the three main faces that it contains. He labels these faces as “three dimensions” where each dimension has its own particular influence over society. The first dimension of power leans toward the pluralist point of view and throughout the text Lukes quotes, paraphrases and even disagrees with classical pluralist theorists. According to the pluralist views the first dimension is transparent, meaning that the decision making process is visible to all. In order to illustrate the first dimensional view further Luke’s uses Robert Dahl's article “The Concept of Power” (1957) where the latter states that in certain situations, an individual might have power over others to the point where they might get them to do things that the later would not do in other circumstances. “A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do.” (Dahl 1957, cited in Lukes 1974, p 11-12). Lukes also draws examples from Dahl’s other work “Who Governs: Democracy and Power in American City” (1961) as an example, where Dahl states that the person who’s decision making prevails is the one with the power, thus illustrating that pluralists focus on the behavioural aspect of decision making. Thus, he concludes that the one dimensional view of power focuses on an individual or a group's behaviour in the process of making a decision on issues that are transparent or in cases where there is an “observable conflict” (1974,p15) and that in such situation the individual with the power will prevail in the decision making process. His second dimension focuses in the criticism of the first dimension and is influenced by the work of Bachrach and Baratz, who argue that power has two faces. The latter authors state that while the first dimension takes into account that discussions are open, it does not take into account of the fact that it might be controlled. Meaning that the person in power can decide what the agenda or decision making topic is. Therefore, Lukes states that in the second dimension, power is the ability to set the agenda that leads to the decision and that if one can control the context of the decision then they can influence said decision as well. Lastly, Lukes introduces his own view, the third dimension of power which is centered on how people's perception may be altered through manipulation. Here, he states that the ones with power are the ones who have the ability to shape other people’s perspective through various means and that the ones in power not only decide the agenda but also manipulate others at a subconscious level to the point where they (the suppressed group) support the decision they (the powerful group) take even if it is biased. Bibliography S,Lukes. (1974). Power- A radical view. London: Macmillan....