Chapter Seven: What Is Power?

Study

Chapter Summary

Principles presents four major ways in which states can exercise power over one another: persuasion, rewards, punishment, and force. Each of these operates on a different part of an actor's decision-making calculations. In the strategic perspective power is both relational and issue-specific; this means that aggregate capabilities measures like the COW CCI provide a very poor indicator of a state's power.

Study Questions

• Rank the four faces of power from least to most costly for the actor and for the target. How are the lists different? What might that suggest about which faces states are more likely to use?
  
  
  
• How are force and punishment different? How are they alike?
  
  
  
• Do all the faces of power actually have to be used to be effective?
  
  
  
• What kinds of things can increase or decrease a state's power? What kinds of things can increase or decrease a state's capabilities? Why is it important (or is it?) to distinguish between those two concepts?
  
  
  
• What makes a state a “superpower”?