The Hidden Face of Power

This underscores why politicians have long perceived mass media as a veritable channel of disseminating an ideology so that the society can mirror itself against what the media feeds it and thus be manipulated. This further begs the question of whether the media is a contributor or otherwise to societal problems in the face of political ideological dissemination.

Ever since the 17th century, the newspaper has been produced and blown out of proportion, known as mass media. George A. Krimsky shines his own opinion in his essay, “The Role of the Media in a Democracy.” Krimsky provides many examples, reasoning, and rhetoric devices to expand his argument even more, his argument being that; the press should send out straight facts, let people interpret them, and allow the free press to hold the government accountable.

There are many people in the world that have power. Their power is impactful to the people under them and maybe big enough for things like countries and the world. This is a big idea that Erich Remarque had when he was writing All Quiet on the Western Front. The war in the novel and the soldiers who take place in it are greatly impacted by the people who have control over them. The soldiers do not agree or like how they run things. A larger theme in All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque is power is bad because instinct takes over.

Power is a theme found in the world and in this story “The Crucible”. Just one example of the theme power in “The Crucible” is Abigail. Abigail is Parris’ niece and is having an affair with John Proctor. In order to get rid of his wife accuses her of Witchcraft. She uses the power of persuasion and has the other girls pretend to see spirits to convince the Judge that Mrs. Proctor is a Witch.

Some theorists believe that ‘power is everywhere: not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere… power is not an institution, nor a structure, nor possession. It is the name we give to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. (Foucault, 1990: 93) This is because power is present in each individual and in every relationship. It is defined as the ability of a group to get another group to take some form of desired action, usually by consensual power and sometimes by force. (Holmes, Hughes &Julian, 2007) There have been a number of differing views on ‘power over’ the many years in which it has been studied. Theorist such as Anthony Gidden in his works on structuration theory attempts to integrate basic

Modern day power originates from the mind in that we give certain figures power based upon man-made forms of value or worth like money. The definition of power has fluctuated throughout time, and while the past may have emphasized the more violent aspects, today, we have shifted towards a more control based interpretation. Both Michael Foucault and John Berger delve into the idea of power and its functionality. Based on their texts, in our current socio-cultural setting, power is best exploited when the concept behind the power is deindividualized for many purposes, internalized by the people, and integrated throughout society to the point that its origins is mystified.

First, before I forget, I have to state how power can be powerful. Power could be used for many acronyms. Power could stand for leadership, power could stand for a higher standard over another person, whether they like it or not. Certain people have power, whether they like it or not, whether they want it or not. In a group of people there has to be a leader, and a

Human beings are influenced by what they see, hear, or read on the news. Today we have several sources to receive news: newspapers, internet, and radio. However, with this information people come to question what is truly the truth. The Cable News Network (CNN) displays footage of current events happening all around the world. This well-known 24-hour news broadcasting system began to change its traditional pattern of news began to encapsulate the way media directs the foreign policy formulation. For the individuals behind the scenes, including policy makers and academics, the 1990’s was a time of media empowerment and growth. Piers Robinson thesis in the “CNN effect revisited” is the ways in which the media influences foreign policy formulation, socially and politically. In his argumentative essay, Robinson discusses the development of foreign policy since the “war on terror” and the “humanitarian war.” Additionally, Robinson discusses the ways media intervened with political decisions and how the media’s voice created military action. The media that has the privilege to voice opinions, can result in less freedom for the press

The media influences how people experience social life. Media such as newspaper, television and film, are important sources of information, education and entertainment. It can be used to learn more about the world and the people in it. In this regard it can be said that the media represent, interpret and endorse aspects of social experience (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2005). The media are also implicated in social regulation, or in other terms, the government of society. The media are implicated in government and politics in an obvious way because modern systems of democracy are conducted through the media. But the media have a bigger role to play in government by structuring how society is controlled and maintained.

The CNN Effect has been described in many positive and negative ways. Former UN Security General Boutros-Ghali described CNN as “the sixteenth member of the Security Council (Gilboa, 2005).” While Colin Powell saw the network’s effect as being that “live television coverage doesn’t change the policy, but it does create the environment in which policy is made (Gilboa, 2005).” These two statements show that the CNN Effect has an impact both domestically and internationally as a major part of the world’s political process. The CNN Effect may be seen as a positive or a negative but despite one’s opinion it has had the varying effects of being part of the agenda setting process and acting as an accelerant. Although the CNN Effect,

Conflict handling is best addressed when both parties engage in an integrative approach where they work in cooperation and generate solutions that address the needs of both parties (de Reuver, 2006). This isn’t always the approach, however. Power can prevent a positive problem solving approach. The one holding the power simply does not need to operate in this way. “The powerful are less dependent on others than others are on them for acquiring and maintaining important resources” (de Reuver, 2006). In short, conflict, difficult already to manage, becomes much more difficult to handle if the power is unequal.

We have to contend, in the exercise of our personal power, with the influences of such power-channels in our environments and how they add to, limit or distort our exercise of power - e.g. hierarchies, coalitions,

Max Weber is renowned as one of the founding fathers to modern sociology. He defined power as being, ‘the ability of an individual or group to achieve their own goals or aims when others are trying to prevent them from realizing them’ (Weber 1925b/1978:926). His concept of power unfolds continuously as he breaks down power into two categories, coercive and authoritative. Coercive power is where an individual exercises power through the use of force. This is in contrast to authoritative where power is seen as legitimate. Legitimate because those exercising power do so

Power is defined as a political action coerced to exercise or to pursuit. It influences and controls the content of political power. The theory of power is argued by Niccolo Machiavelli, Hannah Arendt, and Karl Emil (Max) Weber. Machiavelli’s position stood that power is held by individuals. As for Arendt, she believed power was maintained within groups, while Weber believed power lied in institutions.

Though such institutions are capable of reaffirming certain statements of power, hegemony itself is, as Raymond Williams states, "a whole body of practices and expectations...our ordinary understanding of the nature of man and his world...a sense of reality...a sense of absolute" (4).