ABSTRACT
The concept of power is at the heart of political enquiry. Indeed, it is probably the central concept of both descriptive and normative analysis. When we talk about elections, group conflicts and state policies, we seek to explain events and processes in the political world by fixing responsibility upon institutions and agents. We are thus talking about power. When we ask about the constitution of the good or just society, we are contrasting present conditions with some projected alternative set of arrangements that might better enable people to conduct their lives. Here too we are talking about power. It would seem impossible to engage in political discourse without raising, whether implicitly or explicitly, questions about the distribution of power in society.
