Freedom, Society, and State - Ludwig von Mises Institute

Wh i let her e is, a dm itt e d I y, ve r y lit tIe a g r e em e n t
e i the r i nor din a r y I a n g u age 0 reve n am 0 ngpolit i cal
scientists regarding the meaning of the term "power,"
what little consensus there is follows, I believe, the
path taken by such poltical scientists as Robert Dahl,
Harold Lasswell and Morton Kaplan. Since there is
lit tIe doubt that theirs is a respected approach to the
question of power, it will, perhaps, be worthwhile to
examine the libertarian definition in terms of the
Dahl-Lasswell-Kaplan approach.(22)
What is interesting about their analysis is the
distinction they make between power and influence. For
them, influence is a generic term that includes an entire
family of more specific concepts such as power,
authority, coercion, persuasion, force, etc. Power, on
the other hand, says Dahl, is "defined as a special
case of influence involving severe losses for noncomp
I ian c e • " ( 23 ) S imil a r I y, La s s we I I and Ka p Iann0 t e t hat
"it is the threat of sanctions that differentiates
power from influence in general. Power is a special
case of the exercise of influence: it is the process
of affecting policies of others with the help of
(actual or threatened) severe deprivations for nonconformity
with the policies intended."(24)
A problem with the Samuels' critique is immediatelyapparent.
For Samuels, power is ubiquitous, but
on I y bee a use h e (i mpi i cit I y) de fin esit ass y non ym 0 us
with influence. But if the Dahl-Lawwell-Kaplan approach
is followed power is clearly not ubiquitous. It
is only one specific type -- that involving severe deprivations
or losses -- of the much more inclusive concept
of influence. Rothbard never denied that influence
may be ubiquitous, but power certainly is not. If
there is any abuse of language it lies with Samuels,
not Rothbard.
Even if one follows this approach, the question is
far fro m be i n g res 0 I v e d . For is the r e, 0 r canthere
be, market influence strong enough to constitute severe
deprivation, i.e., can there be "economic power?"
The rearet w 0 s tan dar d wa y s 0 f proc e e ding : t hat
o f c I ass i fie a t ion and t hat 0 f compar i son . The met hod
or per hap s morea c curate 1y, teeh n i que - - 0 f c I ass j ­
fication establishes two or more mutually exclusive and
exhaustive categories or classes and then assigns the
phenomena to one or the other of the classes. The
comparative technique proceeds by establishing a con-
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