Why should we care about the definition of power?

dc.contributor.authorDowding, Keith
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-10T23:12:34Z
dc.date.available2015-12-10T23:12:34Z
dc.date.issued2012
dc.date.updated2016-02-24T09:44:06Z
dc.description.abstractBeing pluralist about the concept of power does not mean that all definitions are equally valid. Many definitions are non-rival and gain their utility from the specific contexts in which they are applied. Others are rival and their relative utility derives from how good an explanation is provided by the theory of which they are part. Such explanation is constrained by the world because good explanation is constrained by the expectations it engenders. Some conceptions of power and related terms do similar explanatory work but hold different normative values. The contestability of 'power' derives from the normative work it does in different contexts and explanations. By making our concepts as non-normative as possible we can ensure that the moral or political disagreement is brought more clearly into the open. How we define social and political power does matter in some contexts for both explanatory and normative reasons.
dc.identifier.issn2158-379X
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/64042
dc.publisherRoutledge, Taylor & Francis Group
dc.sourceJournal of Political Power
dc.subjectKeywords: conceptual construction; essential contestability; power; zero- and positive-sum
dc.titleWhy should we care about the definition of power?
dc.typeJournal article
local.bibliographicCitation.issue1
local.bibliographicCitation.lastpage135
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage119
local.contributor.affiliationDowding, Keith, College of Arts and Social Sciences, ANU
local.contributor.authoremailu4458840@anu.edu.au
local.contributor.authoruidDowding, Keith, u4458840
local.description.notesImported from ARIES
local.identifier.absfor160609 - Political Theory and Political Philosophy
local.identifier.absseo940299 - Government and Politics not elsewhere classified
local.identifier.ariespublicationf5625xPUB880
local.identifier.citationvolume5
local.identifier.doi10.1080/2158379X.2012.661917
local.identifier.scopusID2-s2.0-84859580508
local.identifier.uidSubmittedByf5625
local.type.statusPublished Version

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