Power; Marx and Liberal View

Power Marx And Liberal View




Jayanta Boruah



Contents

Sl no. Topics Page no.
1 Introduction 5
2 Concepts of power 6
3 Marxism 7
4 Karl Marx View on Power 8
5 Liberalism 1o
6 Liberal View on Power 13
7 Conclusion 15
8 Bibliography 16










Introduction


Recently, the idea of power has assumed an importance of its own, in the realm of Political Theory. This is so because the meaning of political science has changed from one of being a study of state and government to that of being a study of power. Power is the primary objective of foreign policy. In international relations, power is the capacity of a state to influence or control the behavior of other states for the purpose of promotimg its own vital interest. Power capacity includes skills and techniques in the use of constraint and consent, as well as the ability to persuade, threaten or coerce to gain ascendency over other states. States vary notably in power capacities. Belgium and Switzerland are probably matched, but the mismatch between Belgium and Switzerland are apparent. Some states are charecterised as ‘haves’ and some are as ‘haves not’. The former are well endowed with the assets of power while the other seek
to better their position at the expense of the haves. This situate gives power struggle its essential character.
In this paper we will discuss about power in short and will trace the Liberal and Marxist views on power







Concept of power

In social science and politics, power is the ability to influence or control the behavior of people. The term authority is often used for power perceived as legitimate by the social structure. Power can be seen as evil or unjust, but the exercise of power is accepted as endemic to humans as social beings. In the corporate environment, power is often expressed as upward or downward. With downward power, a company's superior influences sub ordinates. When a company exerts upward power, it is the...