Power: Nature, Dimensions, Types

and Consequences
 Senior High School

Philippine
Politics and
Governance
Quarter 1 – Module 3:
Power: Nature, Dimensions, Types
and Consequences
 • Lesson 1 – Power: Nature, Dimensions, Types and Consequences

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. analyze the nature, dimensions/ types, and consequences of power.

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Read the following items carefully. Write the letter of the
correct answer on a separate sheet of paper.
1. It is the ability to achieve a desired outcome or ability to influence the
behavior of others. a. Commitment
b. Compliance
c. Power
d. Resistance

2. This consequence of power refers to readiness or act of agreeing to do

something.
a. Commitment
b. Compliance
c. Referent Power
d. Resistance

3. What type of power is exercised if the target person complies because he

or she identifies with the agent and wants to gain the agent’s approval? a.
Coercive power
b. Legitimate power
c. Referent Power
d. Reward power

4. What face of power are we dealing with if we consider conscious actions

that in some way influence the content of decisions? a. Power as decision-
making
b. Power as thought control
c. Power as agenda setting
d. Power as necessity

5. This face of power is the ability to influence another by shaping what he or

she thinks, wants, or needs.
a. Power as decision-making
b. Power as thought control
c. Power as agenda setting
d. Power as necessity
6. What type of power is manifested if the target person complies in order to
avoid punishments he or she believes are controlled by the agent? a.
Coercive power
b. Legitimate power
c. Referent Power
d. Reward power

7. What type of power is employed if the target person complies because he

or she believes the agent has the right to make the request and the target
person has the obligation to comply? a. Coercive power
b. Legitimate power
c. Referent Power
d. Reward power

8. What consequence of power is considered as desirable outcome because

of the trust and emotional pledge that it causes? a. Commitment
b. Compliance
c. Resistance
d. Referent Power

9. This consequence of power means to refuse or to oppose.

a. Commitment
b. Compliance
c. Referent Power
d. Resistance

10.This face of power is the ability to influence the desires of another person.
a. Power as thought control
b. Power as agenda setting
c. Power as decision-making
d. Power as necessity

11.This face of power involves the ability to set or control the political
discourse, thereby preventing issues or proposals from being aired in the
first place. a. Power as thought control
b. Power as agenda setting
c. Power as decision-making
d. Power as necessity

12.What type of power was in place if the target person complies because he
or she believes that the agent has special knowledge about the best way
to do something?
a. Coercive power
b. Expert Power
c. Legitimate power
d. Reward power
13.Commitment is most likely to be the consequence when the type of
powers employed are ____________ and ____________. a. legitimate and
referent
b. reward and legitimate
c. expert and legitimate
d. referent and expert
14.Through legitimate power, compliance with the order may occur if it is
perceived to be within the leader’s scope of what? a. authority
b. close relationship
c. expertise
d. reward

15.What type of power will be most suitable if the objective is preventing

behavior that is harmful to the society and well-being of the people such
as illegal and violent activities?
a. Coercive power
b. Expert Power
c. Legitimate power
d. Reward power
 Lesso Power: Meaning,
Dimensions, Types and
n 1 Consequences

What’s In

You learned in Module 1 on the view about politics that politics is in essence
power. Power or its presence makes a particular social behaviour or activity
distinctively political. Politics under this view is in essence power or the ability to
achieve a desired outcome.

What’s New

Think of someone who can easily influence the behaviours of people around
him or her. In 3-4 sentences, describe that person. What do you think are the
reasons why that person is influential? Write your answer on a separate sheet of
paper.

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What is It

Defining Power
Power in its broadest sense, as stated by
Heywood (2007) is the ability to achieve a desired
outcome and is sometimes seen as the ‘power to’
do something. He further explained that in the
context of politics and governance, power is
usually thought of as a relationship: the ability to
influence the behaviour of others or having ‘power
over’ people and the ability to punish or reward.

Dimensions or Faces of Power

According to Heywood (2007), the following are the various ways how power
is exercised by members of society. These are called dimensions or faces of
power:
Power as Decision-Making, Power as Agenda Setting and Power as Thought
Control.

Power as Decision-Making
This face of power consists of conscious actions that in some way influence
the content of decisions. Identifying who has power is done by analysing
decisions in the light of the known preferences of the actors involved. The
implication of this view of power is that the most powerful actors in society are
those whose opinion are considered and upheld in the decision making. The
powerful are able to get what they want and make others behave the way they
wanted them to. According to Boulding (1989) as cited by Heywood (2007),
decisions can be influenced in a variety of ways distinguished between the use of
force or intimidation (the stick), productive exchanges involving mutual gain (the
deal), and the creation of obligations, loyalty and commitment (the kiss).
Power as Agenda Setting
The second face of power as further discussed by Heywood (2007) is the
ability to prevent decisions being made: that is, in effect, ‘non-decision-making’.
This according to him involves the ability to set or control the political agenda,
thereby preventing issues or proposals from being aired in the first place.

Power as Thought Control

The third face of power, still according to
Heywood (2007) is the ability to influence another
by shaping what he or she thinks, wants, or
needs. This is power expressed as ideological
indoctrination or psychological control. In political
life, the exercise of this form of power is seen in
the use of propaganda and, more generally, in the
impact of ideology which you learned from
Module 2.

Types of Power

According to French and Raven (1959) as cited by Yukl (1989), there are
different types of power, namely: reward power, coercive power, legitimate
power, expert power and referent power. Read the power taxonomy below in
order for you to understand more about the types of power.

Power Taxonomy

Type of Power Description

The target person complies in order to obtain rewards he

Reward power or she believes are controlled by the agent.

The target person complies in order to avoid

Coercive power punishments he or she believes are controlled by the
agent.
The target person complies because he or she believes
Legitimate power the agent has the right to make the request and the
target person has the obligation to comply.
 The target person complies because he or she believes
Expert power that the agent has special knowledge about the best
way to do something.
The target person complies because he or she admires
Referent power or identifies with the agent and wants to gain the
agent’s approval.
Consequences of Power
There are three consequences of power
according to Yukl (1989):
compliance, commitment and resistance. He
further stressed that employing certain types
of power in particular ways may result
into these consequences. Study his
explanations below:

Compliance means readiness or act of

agreeing to do something.

The two types of power most likely to cause compliance are legitimate or
position power and reward power.

➢ Compliance with the order may occur if it is perceived to be within the

leader’s scope of authority.

➢ Compliance is most likely to happen if the reward is something valued by

the target person.

Commitment is an even more desirable outcome because of the trust and

emotional pledge that it causes. It is perceived as loyalty or a sense of dedication
or devotion. Commitment is most likely to be the consequence when the powers
used are referent and expert.

➢ The common way to exercise referent power is merely to ask someone

with whom one has a friendship to do something.

➢ Expert power may result to commitment if the leader presents logical

arguments and supporting evidence for a particular proposal, order or
policy. It will depend on the leader’s credibility and persuasive
communication skills in addition to technical knowledge and logical or
analytical ability.

➢ Commitment is a very unlikely consequence if coercive power is

employed.

Resistance means to refuse or to oppose. It is the most likely outcome when

coercive power is used in a hostile or manipulative way. (Yukl 1989)

According to Heywood (2007), it is best to use coercion power in preventing

behaviour that is harmful to the society and well-being of the people such as
illegal and violent activities.
 What’s More

ACTIVITY 1
Cite one recent political phenomenon and select the face or dimension of power
that can be used in analyzing it. Explain how that face of power can help you
understand the cited political event. Accomplish this on a separate sheet of
paper.

Face or Dimension of
Political Phenomenon Explanation
Power
ACTIVITY 2
Complete the table below. Identify and describe one scenario in each of the
following settings given in column 1 where you could see the exercise of a
specific type of power. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

Setting Scenario Type of Power

Example:
Classroom The teacher organized a Reward Power
recognition program for
outstanding students.

Start here:

1. Household

2. Workplace

3. Group of friends

4. Barangay

5. Areas under
Quarantine
 What I Have Learned

Answer the following questions. Write your answers on a

separate sheet of paper.

1. How does the study of faces or dimensions of power

help you understand more about the concept of power?

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2. What is the importance of having an idea about the certain types of

powers which may result into certain consequences of power?

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 What I Can Do

Think of someone who you think should receive an advice about the importance
of knowing the cause and effect relationship between the different types of
power and consequences of power. Write a “suggestion letter” to that person.
Write your output on a separate sheet of paper. Your output will be graded using
the criteria below:

Content - 25 Points
Structure - 10 Points Word
choice - 10 Points
Grammatical accuracy - 5 Points
Total - 50 Points
 Assessment

IDENTIFICATION. Identify the type of power being described in the following

items. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

1. The target person complies because he or she admires or identifies with the
agent and wants to gain the agent’s approval.

2. The target person complies in order to avoid punishments he or she believes

are controlled by the agent.

3. The target person complies in order to obtain rewards he or she believes are
controlled by the agent.

4. The target person complies because he or she believes that the agent has
special knowledge about the best way to do something.

5. The target person complies because he or she believes the agent has the
right to make the request and the target person has the obligation to comply.

TRUE OR FALSE. For items 6-10, write TRUE if the statement is correct and
write FALSE if otherwise.

6. Expert power may result to commitment if the leader presents logical

arguments and supporting evidence for a particular proposal, order or policy.

7. Commitment is a very likely consequence if coercive power is employed.

8. Compliance is most likely to happen if the reward is something valued by the

target person.

9. Coercive power is exercised by asking someone with whom one has a

friendship to do something.

10.It is best to use coercion power in preventing behavior that is harmful to the
society and well-being of the people such as illegal and violent activities.

FILL IN THE BLANKS. For items 11-15, fill in the blanks with the correct
answers.

11.___________________ is the ability to achieve a desired outcome or ability to

influence the behavior of others.

12.Through legitimate power compliance with the order may occur if it is

perceived to be within the leader’s scope of ___________________.

13.___________________ is the type of power that is most suitable if the objective is

preventing behavior that is harmful to the society and well-being of the
people such as illegal and violent activities.
14.This face of power refers to the ability to prevent decisions being made: that
is, in effect, ‘non-decision-making’. This face of power is called
___________________.

15.___________________as a face of power is manifested in political life thru the

use of propaganda and, more generally, in the impact of ideology.

Additional Activities

Complete the table below. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

First column: Write your most important learning about the interplay of the types
of power and consequences of power.
Second column: Cite a political phenomenon related to your most important
learning
Third column: How can you apply your most important learning in analysing the
political phenomenon in second column?

What I Know Political Phenomenon Application