last updated 3/29/2015

BASES OF POWER 

Power can be created by:

     PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

1. Expertise (There is an American cultural preference for this even in arguments not about information -- e.g. values. Expertise requires:
1. actual knowledge in scarce supply,
2. ability to communicate it. articulate expertise with appropriate arguments (but don't get into a situation where you will lose arguments. because your competence goes down)

 
2. Interpersonal relationships (referent power)
1. friendships (valued relationships and better evaluations of competence by friends)
2. access to symbols of power
    

     CONTROL OF RESOURCES

1. gatekeepers who control information
2. formal control of rewards and punishments and resources (pressure toward reciprocity)
3. coalitions (may be unstable based on issues at stake, size) 

• Ultimately, POWER IS THE COMPOSITE IMAGE OF THE ABOVE ELEMENTS
   

   Discussion Questions for Wednesday:

Come to class with three examples in mind that you have observed or experienced reflecting how power is used (one for each category):

• on a job you have had
• by faculty or staff at MC
• by a student at MC

• What base of power was used in each? 
• How did elements of power play a role? 
• What was the basis of reciprocity?
• What was the outcome?