ABSTRACT
Power is a major explanatory concept in the study of social choice. It is used in studies of relations among nations, of community decision making, of business behavior, and of small-group discussion. In order to explore the power of power in empirical theories of social choice, this chapter proposes to do two things: First, it identifies three different variations in this basic approach to power as an intervening variable to suggest the kinds of uses of power. Second, the chapter examines six different classes of models of social choice that are generally consistent with what at least one substantial group of students means by social power. It asks what empirical and technical problems are there in the use of the concept of power and in the use of alternative concepts, and under what circumstances the concept of power does, or can, contribute to the effective prediction of social choice.
