The sources of political power depend on obedience and cooperation

        These six sources of political power are necessary to establish or retain power and control. Their availability , however , is subject to constant variation and is not necessarily secure.

        The more extensive and detailed the rulers’ control over the population and society, the more such assistance they will require from individuals, groups, organizations, and branches of the government. If these needed “assistants” reject the rulers’ authority, They my then carry out the rulers’ wishes and orders inefficiently , or may even flatly refuse to continue their usual assistance . When this happens the total effective  power of the rulers is reduced.

        Because the rulers are dependent on their people to operate the system, the rulers are continually subject to influence and restriction by both their direct assistants and the general population .The potential control of these groups over  the rulers will be greatest where the rulers depend on them most .

        Let us, for example, consider authority and sanctions from this point of view. The other four sources of power are highly dependent on these two.

          Authority is necessary for the existence and operation of any regime. All rulers require an acceptance of their authority: their right to rule, command and be obeyed. The key to habitual obedience is to reach the mind. Obedience will scarcely be habitual unless it is loyal, not forced. In essence, authority must be voluntarily accepted.

Political power viewed as derive from violence

          If the population widely believes that the real power in politics derives from violence that it “comes out of the barrel of a gun”, then whoever has the most and biggest guns will find it much easier to control the population.

          Most such populations then passively submit. Sometimes, however people who reject the current regime as oppressive and who see the power of violence arrayed against them conclude that they must use whatever violence they can muster against their oppressors. This may take the form of violent rebellions, assassinations, terrorism or guerrilla warfare. The results of these action for the oppressed population have often been far from positive . Violent rebels are unlikely to succeed against extreme odds and the general population most likely will suffer massive casualties.

          In the unlikely case that violent rebels succeed in defeating oppressive rulers, the rebels will probably have simply established themselves as a new ruling elite in control of the state apparatus. Violence may on occasion remove the previous rulers or groups. However, the actual relationship between the dominant elite and the  dominated population is unlikely to be fundamentally altered by use of violence. In fact, the violence will likely contribute to a still greater concentration of power and an increased use of violence for political objectives.

Obedience is the heart of political power

          The relationship between command and obedience is always one of mutual influence and some degree of interaction. That is, command and obedience influence each other. Without the expected obedience by the subordinates (whether in the form of passive acquiescence or active consent) the power relationship is not complete, despite the threat or in-flection of sanctions.

          The reasons why people obey rulers are multiple, complex, variable, and interrelated. These reasons include the following.

* Habit

* Fear of sanctions

* Moral obligation------

* Self interest

* Psychological identification with the ruler

* Indifference

* Absence of self -confidence to disobey

Sources of political power

      

      The persons who are at any point the rulers do not  personally possess the power of control, administration , and repression that they wield . How much power they possess depends on how much power society will grant them. Six of these sources of political power are;                                   

  (1)Authority:  This may also be called legitimacy. It is the quality that leads people to accept a right of persons and groups to lead, commaned, direct, and be heard or obeyed by others. Authority is vol-untarily  accepted  by the people and therefore is present without the imposition of sanctions (or punishments). The authority  figures  need  not necessarily be actually  superior. It is enough that the person or group be perceived and accepted as superior. While not identical with power,authority is clearly a main source of power. 

Waging nonviolent struggle----------

By Gene sharp

 

From the late eighteenth century through the twentieth century ,The technique of nonviolent action was widely used in colonial rebelio-ns, international political and economic conflicts, religious conflicts, and anti-slavery resistance. This technique has been aimed to secure worke-rs; right to organize, woman’s rights,  universal manhood suffrage , and woman suffrage. This type of struggle has been used to gain national in-dependence , to generate economic gains, to resist genocide,to under-mine dictatorship, and to gain civil rights. To end  segregation , and toresist foreign occupations and d’etat .

          In the twentieth century , nonviolent action rose tounprecedent-ed political significance throughout the world. People using this techni-que amassed major achievements, and  of course , experienced faiture at times. Higher wages and improved working conditions were won . Oppressive traditions and practices were  abolished . Both men and women won the right to vote in several countries in part  by using thisTechnique. Government policies were changed  , laws repealed , new legislation enacted ,  and governmental reforms instituted . Invaders were frustrated and armies defeated, An empire was paralyzed , coupd’etat thwarted, and dictatorships disintegrated . Nonviolent struggle was used against extreme dictatorships, including both Nazi and Communist systems .  

Exposing misconception

 

          In addition to misconceptions conveyed by unfortunate te-rminology, there are other areas of confusion in the field of no-nviolent struggle as well. Despite new studies in recent decades

Inaccuracies and misunderstanding  are still widespread. Here are corrections for some of them.

(1)Nonviolent  action has nothing  to do with passivity, submiss-iveness, or cowardice. Just as in violent action, these must first be rejected and overcome before the struggle can proceed.

(2)Nonviolent action is a means of conducting conflicts and can be very powerful, but it is an extremely different phenomenon from violence of all types.