Influence and power : variations on a messy theme

Author(s)

    • Zimmerling, Ruth

Bibliographic Information

Influence and power : variations on a messy theme

by Ruth Zimmerling

(Law and philosophy library, v. 68)

Springer, c2005

Available at  / 4 libraries

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Includes bibliographical references (p. 275-297) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Some years ago, on request of the German Political Science Association (DVPW), an empirical investigation "On the state and the orientation of political science in the Federal Republic of Germany" was conducted by Carl Boehret. Among other interesting 1 information, in the paper that was subsequently published the author presented the results of a survey among 254 political scientists in the Federal Republic on what they considered to be the sine qua non basic concepts of the discipline. In various respects, the data are remarkable. 2 On the one hand, the enormous diversity of the answers corroborates statistically what has long been known from experience, i. e. , the existence of an extremely wide variety of standpoints, perspectives, and approaches within the discipline. An interesting case in point is the concept of power. Somewhat surprisingly, 'power' was not the most frequently mentioned term. But, it did, of course, end up at the very top of the list, in third place behind 'conflict' and 'interest'. What is noteworthy is that it gained this position by being named only 81 times, that is, by less than a third of the respondents. This is no insignificant detail. Certainly, to that minority of scholars whose conceptions of politics do include 'power' as an indispensable basic concept, the approaches of the vast majority of their colleagues for whom, as their answers in the survey reveal, 'power' does not play an eminent role must appear, in an 3 important sense, mistaken or perhaps even incomprehensible.

Table of Contents

Part I. Concepts Taken Apart.- Chapter 1. The Concept of Power.- 1. The 'essential contestedness' issue 1. Conceptual vagueness and ambiguity. Value-dependence. A pragmatic objection. An epistemological objection. The simple inconsistency objection. The sophisticated inconsistency objection. The unfoundedness objection. Value-dependence examined. 2. Conceptions of power 1. Sociological conceptions: from Max Weber to Steven Lukes. A Philosophical Conception: Hartmut Kliemt. An economic conception: Brian Barry. 3. Conclusions 1. A classificatory framework. The question of causation. Cutting through the jungle. Chapter 2. The Concept of Influence.- 1. Distinguishing influence from power: General remarks. 2. The power-as-ability-to-influence view.- Excursus: The concept of influence in social-psychological scholarship 3. The sanction-based distinction: Lasswell and Kaplan. The intention-based distinction: Dennis Wrong 5. The normativity-based distinction: Ingmar Poern . Assorted other views. 7. A subject-centered view: Mokken and Stokman. 8. A tentative proposal. Part II. Concepts put Together.- Chapter 3. Power and Freedom.- 1. Felix Oppenheim 1. The relationship between freedom and power. Discussion. Conclusion. 2. Philip Pettit 1. The relationship between freedom and power. Discussion. Conclusion 3. Kristjan Kristjansson 1. The relationship between freedom and power. Discussion. Conclusion 4. Conclusions. Chapter 4. Social Power and Legal Power.- 1. Introduction. 2. Distinguishing the two kinds of power 1. Normative or legal power. Social power. 3. Political power at the crossroads of legal and social power. 4. On justifying political power 5. Conclusion. Chapter 5. Influence and Power: A Mess Transformed?- References.- Index of names

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