Five Sources of Power

High-school in America is great. The amount of knowledge and stuff children learn is staggering. These are my notes to revisit and remind myself of the wisdom a high-school graduate posses.

Power

The capacity to get other people to do things that contribute to what we want.

There are five sources of power.

1. Expertise: Power derived from specific skills or expertise
2. Formal Authority: Power that comes from the position and duties within an organization
3. Persuasion:Power that flow from the ability to persuade or influence others
4. Rewards: Power that comes from something of value, such as money, responsibility or praise.
5. Coersion: Power that springs from the ability to punish or penalize others.

Authority

Authority is the legal right or power to give orders and enforce rules.

Aristotles classification of governments

Who holds power	Rule motivated by common good	Rule motivated by self interest
One	Kingship One virtuous ruler	Tyranny One Lawless ruler
Few	Aristocracy Virtuous few for the good of all	Oligarchy Wealthy few in their own interest
Many	Polity Everyone shares in political power	Democracy Rule in their own self interest

Political Games

• Horse Trading: Winning by giving to get
• Walkout: Winning by refusing to play
• Power Struggle: Winning by being smarter and stronger
• Demolition Derby: Winning by wiping out the opposition
• Civil Disobedience: Winning by shaming the opposition