Introduction to Patterns of Power
This introduction to Patterns of Power explains the project’s objectives, its concepts and assumptions, and its analysis approach.
Governance, the power that is wielded over us, should aim to promote the common good and ensure that no one is discriminated against. Everyone needs the opportunity to flourish. It is possible to meet these requirements, even in the challenging conditions of the 21st century, but there are many examples of bad governance.
Clear analysis depends upon identifying all the types of power that are used in any situation. Five different ‘dimensions’ of power are recognisable: economic power, moral influence, legal powers, political authority, and the ungoverned use of force. Each dimension has its own problems and opportunities for doing better, by avoiding past mistakes and adopting best practice.
A theme which occurs in all dimensions is that individual freedom is desirable but that it must come with agreed responsibilities to society. There is a trade-off between the benefits of collaboration and a loss of autonomy.
The project’s objectives
Classifying the power exerted by individuals, organisations, and institutions, is a way of identifying patterns which occur repeatedly. This is the origin of the Internet domain name patternsofpower.org and the titles of the books. These patterns are described and assessed, often using examples from recent events as illustrations. In total, they constitute a broad survey of governance: which is defined here as the structures through which power is exercised. The aim is to help readers to quickly identify what type of power is being applied in any given situation.
Assessment of the patterns of power involves examining who benefits and who is disadvantaged. This forms a basis for identifying which policies should be encouraged and which are best avoided. It will be seen that some power relationships require negotiation between recognised viewpoints, so they will always be contested, whereas others have predictable outcomes – some of which are against the public interest.
Holding the powerful to account is a shared endeavour. The performance of those with power needs to be continually monitored and people need the opportunity to challenge them. The contents of these books are used as source material for blog posts on the project’s website and it is hoped that other writers will find them useful.
Assessment criteria
Power is judged on its acceptability to the individuals it affects and its impact on the well-being of the society concerned. This work doesn’t attempt to define a best form of governance, but nor does it take up the relativist position that ‘anything goes’. It recognises that people may have different beliefs and tastes, which are entirely their own affair, but it argues that some standards of behaviour are crucial for social harmony.
Groups of people who live in the same area – ‘societies’ in the terminology of this book – have arrived at different governance frameworks with varying degrees of acceptability to the population. There is no universal set of principles or single ‘right answer’ which would suit them all.
It is reasonable to comply with power that is being applied for one’s own benefit, or that benefits other people without greatly harming oneself. A case can also be made for submitting to power that is exercised on behalf of other groups in society, even if it conflicts with one’s narrow interests, on the basis that what is good for society is indirectly good for oneself. This second argument is based on the concept that ‘the common good’ should be actively fostered, as advocated by numerous philosophers from Aristotle onwards.[1]
Any individual reader may disagree with this project’s evaluations of some of the patterns of power. This is inevitable, because acceptability is ultimately a personal matter, but it is to be hoped that seeking better governance, and aiming for peaceful coexistence, are widely shared objectives. The ceding of power to others, in exchange for the benefits of collective governance, is rational if the governance is acceptable:
● It is assumed that everybody wants governance that optimises the opportunities for human flourishing and peaceful coexistence – though opinions differ on how much individual freedom this allows.
● Disagreement is inevitable. People will always have different views. Negotiation and compromise are essential.
● Governance should aim to increase satisfaction in aggregate. No-one should be discriminated against, though, and everyone’s human rights should be upheld.
● Continual change must be assumed. The rate of change, of economic factors and cultural diversity, has accelerated dramatically with faster communications and movements of population.
● Leaders have a responsibility to plan ahead. They have a duty of prudence. This sometimes means that people must be persuaded to accept some discomfort in the present in return for future benefits.
● There is a tension between a desire for autonomy and the need to harness the benefits of cooperation. This affects the subsidiarity of power: whether decisions should be local, regional, national, or international.
It is reasonable to seek acceptability in the governance of any society. It is a way of measuring its quality, not a prescription for how it should be achieved. This concept is described more fully in chapter 2, which also describes how it relates to the work of some political philosophers. This book’s approach is more pragmatic than philosophical though, seeking to identify what benefits people in practice.
The five dimensions of power
Economic power (Chapter 3)
Economic power is exerted through the medium of money: wanting it and using it. It should be regulated for the benefit of everyone working in, and depending upon, the economy. The theme of freedom with responsibility can be interpreted in economic terms as encouraging wealth to be created whilst asking those who are successful to contribute towards the common good.
Moral influence (Chapter 4)
Moral influence consists of people’s powers of persuasion, acting on the human need to feel accepted. People should have the freedom to hold different beliefs, but they have a responsibility to show socially acceptable behaviour towards others. It is necessary for people in a culturally pluralist society to follow the Golden Rule: “Avoid doing to others what you don’t want done to you”.
Legal powers (Chapter 5)
Legal powers are used by the State to control the behaviour of the population. They can guarantee freedom from harm for everyone, if the law treats everyone equally and if most people obey it. Legislation needs to respond to rapid social change and be careful in its handling of cultural diversity.
Political authority (Chapter 6)
Political authority draws support, tacitly or explicitly, from the population to make decisions on its behalf. A political system facilitates negotiation to reach a balance between individual freedom and people’s responsibilities to the community – in paying tax, for example. A policy of centrism, as advocated in this book, aims for broad acceptability in politically negotiated solutions to such governance issues. Politicians are also responsible for making decisions on protecting the environment and avoiding conflict in relationships with other countries.
Ungoverned power (Chapter 7)
Ungoverned power relies on force rather than agreed rules. It is a form of freedom, but the use of military force rarely solves problems in international relations.
Validating the analysis approach (Chapter 8)
The decision to invade Iraq in 2003 prompted the realisation that a more rigorous analysis of power was needed – as described in the Preface. A full analysis of that decision was published in Patterns of Power Edition 2, in 2014. The subsequent Chilcot report in 2016 broadly validated that book’s conclusions. It therefore provided an appropriate illustration, and a test, of how the book’s analysis approach works.
Summary of contested aspects of governance (Chapter 9)
Different facets of complex subjects appear in different chapters of the book. This summary draws some of these together, to fully describe the book’s theme of freedom with responsibility. It identifies where continual renegotiation is needed, and it highlights some opportunities for improving governance – such as the need for a new rules-based world order. It also provides evidence that the individual components of acceptability are all achievable with goodwill.
Website resources
Major events are commented on in blog posts on the website. These posts are often linked to book sections. They are stored in categories, and they can be retrieved in that way from the website homepage. They are also tagged with recognisable keywords. From the current edition onwards, hyperlinks are made from both the books and the index to these categories and tags. For example:
Ukraine is listed as a sub-category of Conflicts. The earliest post on the subject was on 5 March 2014, drawing attention to the risks associated with antagonising Russia. The post on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 analysed the consequences of ignoring political realities. More recent posts on the conflict refer to political stances taken by politicians in the West. The tag Russia retrieves additional posts on other conflicts and geopolitical issues in which that country is involved.
The project uses case studies to provide empirical evidence for its claims and it provides links to source material, much of which is accessible on the Internet. This provides a starting point for readers to do further research for themselves into subjects which are of interest to them. A conventional book is limited to the scope between its covers, but this material, with its hyperlinks to the Internet, offers a structured portal to almost unlimited information.
The project’s website is at https://www.patternsofpower.org/. It contains the current and previous book contents, and commentary on some major issues in its blog posts.
This introduction to Patterns of Power is followed by a description of the structures of the remaining chapters of the book, but some readers might prefer to move directly to the next chapter – on assessment criteria.
Next Section: Chapter Structures
Next Chapter: Pattern Assessment Criteria
This page is intended to form part of Edition 4 of the Patterns of Power series of books. An archived copy of it is held at https://www.patternsofpower.org/edition04/Introduction-g.htm
[1] A British Academy working paper, The Concept of the Common Good, lists philosophers who have analysed it through the ages. it was available in August 2024 at https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/1851/Jaede.pdf.