The Importance of Power in Business and Government - Coursework Example

Business and Government Author Affiliation Date Abstract In this paper, the importance of power has been explained in detail. It also explains the various definitions of power of different popular social scientists. Moreover, the importance of power, sources of power, key holders of power like government, business and civil society and their changing role in the last 30 decades and shift in power relation have been discussed in detail to understand the global key issues and challenges of the world. 1. Introduction Power is an important component of the society. It shows which player of the society is powerful. The major players are government, businesses or cooperation (global as well as national) and civil societies all have some agendas that they formulate for the welfare of the people of the society. Power is an old concept that explains the relationship between different people and segments of the society[Hei10]. The balance of between among governments, business and civil society is hard to manage. Before the inception of globalization, government is the only key holder of the power, but after the globalization different new realities have changed the outlook of the power balance. The power has shifted significantly towards the cooperation that because of economic globalization or globalized economy[Joh93]. In addition, with the rise of social media and the internet now the democratic values are being promoted by the civil societies and civil organizations have become another important player of the global world. Similarly, in different countries the influence of government, business and civil societies are different. In many capitalist economies like the United States of America the business block is more powerful. On the other hand, in Australia, where the government is more powerful than the cooperation and trade unions. 2. Power and its definition The concept of power is as old as the human existence in the world. In every society, some people have more power than the other because of their position, rank or status[THE57]. In general words, power is a social phenomenon that represents the relations between different people of the society and shows which one is more influential than another. Many social scientists like Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes and Weber have tried to explain the complex concept of power[JFr56]. It is a complex concept because, the factors of power and its hold are different in various societies. It also varies person to person like in many societies priests and scholars have also a power to control the mind of the masses, but in the atheist society such a power and its influence do not exist. According to the International Encyclopedia of social sciences “power is the modern term of social science that explains the sub-set of relation among the social units of the society in such a way the behavior of one unit is depend on the behavior of the other member of the society[RDA68]. Similarly, Weber a famous social scientist has defined the power as the zero-sum game in which a person either win or lose. Moreover, Max Weber also explained that power is an attribute that can be derived from one's quality, capacity, resources and capability[Max47]. In addition, Oppenheim has also defined that the definitions of power are not completely true or false, but the all definitions are based on some situations and stipulations of the linguistic expression. Furthermore, in all the situation in which power exists there will a power holder that is “P”, a respondent of the power is “R” on which the power is exercised and “x” is the action through which the P is exercising the power over R[OPP78]. In this way different researchers and scientist have defined the complex concept of power in their different ways. 3. Creation of Power There are many sources through which a person in the society can hold the power. There are two types of powers formal power and informal power. The formal power can be achieved through formal means like position or a rank in the society. On the other hand, the type is known as informal power. The informal power cannot be achieved or gained through any formal position or the rank. It can be achieved by anyone on the basis of the position that has been achieved to the position that person get on the basis of some personal qualities[Mic86]. The sources to get formal or informal power or resources, election, appointed position, community representative or other local activist. In addition, personal power is such a power that can achieve through personal expertise, personal attraction, effort or hard work and legitimacy. The personal power shows the extraordinary skills and expertise of the person that he or she present in a unique way. There are many politicians who got the powerful position just on the basis of their leadership and charismatic skills[Sea11]. Thus, power can be created or achieved through a variety of ways. It depends and varies person to person. 4. Power and its hold Power lies in the hand of three most important players of the societies. All the players are significant and interrelated with one another. The three players are government, business or corporations and civil society. The government is the oldest of all other two business and civil society are the offshoot of globalization. Traditionally, the power lies in the hand of government official they had to take all the important decisions solely but now cooperations and civil societies are dominant and have more control over decision making and planning process of the country[Jul06]. The agenda of government is to implement and formulate the laws and regulations of the states. The civil society and NGO’s have an agenda of acting as the watchdog for promoting accountability and transparency in the society. Third, business and corporations have an agenda to work for the economic development of the states. Therefore, all the players want maximum power to execute their agendas effectively. 5. Situational shift in power over last 30 decades Globalization has changed the economic, political, cultural and environmental aspects of the society. It has significant impacts on the world’s power shift[Mat97]. After the cold war, the United States of America had established the international order and world had turned into unipolar world. But now the world power is shifting and China is emerging as a new power of the world. It not only has one of the largest economy, but is also leading the world in the manufacturing and production of thousands of the products and now it is considered as the world’s largest market[Guy02]. It is also a threat to the US hegemony. In such a way the world power and power between the states major players are changing time by time and situation by situation. Similarly, in the some states like Australia there always a conflict and complexities in maintaining a good balance of power between the business and government. Both want to have influence over each other[Sha06]. On the other hand, in the United States civil societies want more rights and privileges, but the government has strict control over the civil organization. Likewise, in New Zealand there are any complexities involve because both economic and security policies are going opposite to one another. If it maintains the security the economy will damage and if it saves the economy, then the security conditions would be threatened[Way14]. Furthermore, the UK has also shifted the power of the civil society, but in many cases the government is dominating over business and civil society. The power and its distribution are totally different in different countries that all depend on the situational factors of the countries. Before the globalization the government solely responsible for the all affairs of the states and there was no interruption of the international players, but now global economy and vigilant civil society have changed the outlook of the world’s power[Har61]. 6. Dominant power of Government There are two types of power the government has i.e. political power and economic power. The economic power is a type of government power in which it has to control the production and trade of the country[Mar121]. The production can be restricted and continued by the government anytime. The production and its capacity have been determined by the government, according to demand and need of that particular product. The government has a power to control the trade. For this purpose government announces its monetary and fiscal policies to not only control and regulate the supply of goods but also the money. On the other hand, the second type of government power is known as political power. The political power that is held by the party or the group of people that come into power as the representation of the people of the society. Such a power, includes the formulation and implementations of the laws and regulation on the people of society[Joy05]. Generally, government claims all these two types of power to control the administrative, economic and political matters of the state. The power relation of government and other player of the society were not a similar as today. The power structure of the government has changed significantly right after the globalization. Before globalization the political structure was control by few autocratic politicians and people were not aware about the true sense of democratic values and liberty[Dav98]. After the globalization all the states of the world have become the part of the global world, where a state could easily exchanges not only goods but also ideas. At, the same time the state centric politics came to its end after the Cold war and the world had entered into the phase of international politics that has also reduced the power of government of the states. The global life of the people of the era of international relations has also transformed the nature of political and economic power of the state. The new realities of the globalized world have changed the economic activities and nature of competition within the domestic market[GCe95]. The technological advancement brought information revolution through which got to know about the new political values of the society. These all things collectively changed the outlook of government power. The economic globalization that has increased the influence and power of MNC’s in various economic planning of the government[Sus97]. Furthermore, political globalization has also introduced that shows the shifting of political power, authority and form of rule of the government. Now, there is a need to maintain close ties with the other countries and adhere to the principles of international relation policies. Moreover, now there are many other international organizations like UNO, EU, WTO and many other have also established so it is also mandatory for the member countries to follow the charter of that organization while formulation and implementing he government rules and regulations. This shift of power shows that after globalization the power of national government has reduced. There is a significant shift in the power of government to international players and powerful national players[Nil10]. 7. Dominant power of Cooperation After the second world war, the concept of globalization had been introduced in the literature, but at that time there were many critics who openly criticize the concept of globalization. In the 21st century, when the internet and other technological advancements in the world have been introduced and transformed the world into the global village[Hol98]. Globalization has brought many opportunities not only for the people, but also brought many benefits to the world business. Globalization has changed the outlook of the world business. The concepts like interrelated, integration, interdependence and internationalization have been introduced in the world of business. In the global village, different countries could operate in different countries. The production and manufacturing of the companies increased significantly[Jon95]. When production increased at the same time influence of cooperation has also increased. Big national cooperation and multinational companies became the important player in the global economy so they became influential in the decision making process, laws and regulations of the government[Ric02]. In this way, the power came in the hand of business, corporate executives and lobbies of the big countries like Australia, US, UK and other. Increased power of Global cooperation (MNC’s, TNC’s) and Rise of lobby group and power lobbyist from corporations The terms multinational corporations, global cooperation and transnational corporation most of the time is used interchangeably. Large companies hold the globalized world economically, politically, environmentally and culturally. They have become powerful after the inception of globalization. These multinational or global cooperation is controlling billions of the people of this world. After the globalization the power shifted significantly towards the cooperation[Bri07]. TNC’s and MNC’s started controlling the price of the product and trade regulations that had been set by the national governments. The largest TNC’s of the world have controlled almost one-third of the production of the world that is the reason they have liberally established their lobbies and blocs to set the price and production of the billions of the people. The power of TNC’s and MNC’s is very strong[Gra98]. In the less developed and developing countries big TNC’s not only manipulate the process of the products, but also controls the national economic affairs of that country. Such an influence has also been reflected when big business tycoons and executives of the big companies have become the members of economic planning committees and contributors of the various national projects just to involve them in the major decision making and planning process of the countries[Joh93]. Majority of the MNC’c and TNC’s are of the US origin, therefore the United States of America have largest influence over the world economy and it has also disturbed the business activities of the other developed countries like Australia and many other[Tho72]. Moreover, the TNC’s have also formed many lobbies just to have an influence over various business policies. They lobbied to share their links and relationships with other international blocks like NAFTA and other to lessen the trade restrictions and getting the licenses to have influence over the domestic markets in which they operate[Jed00]. 8. Dominant power of society The people in the society have the power to control significant and important institutions of the government and the lobbies of the corporation. Democracy is a process through which people of the society can this power. Voting right and vibrant civil society are two important components of democracy[Gil10]. If a society follows the democratic principles and has vigilant civil society, then society is influential and powerful. In US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and many other democratic countries have democratic culture and vigilant civil societies that is the reason now NGO’s and social activist participate in the high level decision making process in the country’s administration[Hei10]. Rise of civil society and its power Civil society is an important and a powerful pillar of the society. It can play an influential role of it is dynamic and vibrant. Over 30 years backs, civil society was in evolution phase and that time power was in the hand of government and cooperation[Kla13]. With the inception of globalization, people became aware of their democratic values. The people of the biggest democratic countries like the United States of America, UK, Australia, New Zealand and many others started to promote democracy and social integration. Moreover, through globalization the world has shrunken into a global village and people have started sharing their ideas with one another. In this way, the concept of civil society has evolved in the society. In a broad sense, civil society can be defined as the area outside the market, state and family[Sai07]. The description of civil society varies country to country and society to society. Some consider civil society a platform where common people can claim their rights. On the other hand, autocratic rulers consider civil societies and their power as a threat. There are different types of civil societies exist in the society and all have their special influence and power in the society. Civil societies include non-government organizations (NGO’s), civil society organizations (CSO’s), social media, collective or social movements, faith-based organizations, labor unions and many others[Kal01]. Civil society is a powerful medium for the society because it plays important roles that strengthened cooperation with the members of the society. Some roles include, civil society is acting as a watchdog in the society to promote accountability and transparency of the government institutions. It is also raising awareness companions about various challenges and social issues of the society[Ria11]. Moreover, civil society is also a service provider and solidarity supporter. Members of the civil societies also set and define standards of the society. In this way, civil society plays impactful roles that affect the mind of the masses. Civil society has the capacity to lead and control the people. Thus, integration and cooperation with the people are the only, but powerful weapon of the society[Lup05]. Now, in the democratic election civil societies plays significant role in the electoral process and its smooth transition[Eri10]. The electoral colleges of the United States are the place common people can select their representative and now elections in the US, Australia, UK and other countries are under the influence of civil societies. Civil societies led various companions and NGO’s construct relationship with the national government just to hold the power of various major institutions of the government. For instance, in Australia NGO’s participate as the part of the senate participate in high level community engagement in decision making processes[Gar02]. Thus, now civil societies now become the powerful lobby that controls major planning and decisions of the big democracies. 9. Conclusion To sum up, it can be concluded that power is the influence and control over the other. In the society, power is as old as the human. All the people of the society have different way of influencing the other through power. Some are powerful and some of the members of the society are weak. Similarly, in the society there are three important players of power, i.e. government, business and civil society. Before the globalization the structure of the power was different and at that time only governments could take all the necessary decisions, but globalization has shifted with power to business cooperation and civil societies of the state. Now, the power and its structure have totally shifted. 10. References Hei10: , (Moksnes, 2010), Joh93: , (Dunning, 1993), THE57: , (Dahl, 1957), JFr56: , (J.French, 1956), RDA68: , (R.Dahl, 1968), Max47: , (Weber, 1947), OPP78: , (Oppenheim, 1978), Mic86: , (Mann, 1986), Sea11: , (Searle, 2011), Jul06: , (Court & Mendizabal, 2006), Mat97: , (Mathew, 1997), Guy02: , (Jonquières, 2002), Sha06: , (McCrystal, 2006), Way14: , (Mapp, 2014), Har61: , (Lasswell & Kaplan, 1961), Mar121: , (Gilens, 2012), Joy05: , (Moncrieffe & Luttrell, 2005), Dav98: , (Held, 1998), GCe95: , (G.Cerny, 1995), Sus97: , (Strange, 1997), Nil10: , (Göksel, 2010), Hol98: , (Holton, 1998), Jon95: , (Jones, 1995), Ric02: , (Brinkman & Brinkman, 2002), Bri07: , (Roach, 2007), Gra98: , (Randy, 1998), Tho72: , (Parry, 1972), Jed00: , (Singh, 2000), Gil10: , (Gilley, 2010), Kla13: , (Schwab, 2013), Sai07: , (Alqadhafi, 2007), Kal01: , (Kaldor & Glasius, 2001), Ria11: , (Brouwers, 2011 ), Lup05: , (Lupel, 2005), Eri10: , (Bjornlund, 2010), Gar02: , (Johns, 2002), Read More