1 Introduction

(This is an archived extract from the book Patterns of Power: Edition 2)

America, with Britain's help, invaded Iraq in 2003. Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic endorsed the decision to invade, yet the reasons for the invasion remain unclear:

Was it self-defence, in response to a perceived military threat?

Was it a moral mission, to rescue the Iraqi people from oppression?

Was there a political objective, to bring stability to the Middle East through democratisation?

Was there an economic concern for the stability of oil supplies?

Or was it to enforce a UN resolution, to uphold international law?

Politicians said all of these things at different times,[1] in an attempt to sell the policy to a sceptical audience. The effect was confusing and their arguments warrant re-examination. Previous experiences, and the perspectives of some of the stakeholders, appeared to have been ignored.

The decision to invade Iraq was an example of a more general problem: politicians often have to make decisions which have a great impact on us, yet it can be hard to understand or comment on whether they are acting in our best interests. Good governance can protect us – as when the EU prevented a British government from imposing indefinite detention without charge (5.4.7.4) – but bad decisions can affect us adversely, without our consent and without any apparent political accountability.

This book offers a way of understanding and assessing the use of power, examining who benefits and who is disadvantaged. It identifies patterns in the ways in which people exert power over each other, enabling us to analyse current events by examining recent history and published opinions. It shows that some power relationships require negotiation between recognised viewpoints and others have outcomes which can be predicted in the light of past experience and informed views. If we recognise what types of power are used, and what outcomes can be expected, we can more easily assess the performance of those who have power over us. We can then try to influence them.

The patterns of power constitute a broad survey of governance, which is defined here as the structures through which power is exercised. Governance issues arise with increasing frequency, because there are some ongoing and far-reaching global transformations which are placing strains upon existing structures of power:

• The globalisation of finance and manufacturing has changed the power relationships between people, corporations and politicians – reducing the economic significance of national borders and increasing the need for supranational governance.

• Some rapidly developing economies – notably China, India, Russia and Brazil – are changing the global balance of power; Western democracies will have to adapt, both economically and politically.

• It is apparent that environmental changes are affecting all countries.

• The Internet enables people to know what is going on around the world, to communicate more quickly, to openly express criticism of those who wield power, and to influence each other.

This increased exposure to global pressures is changing the role of national governments and is also accelerating the pace of social change within countries – exacerbating existing tensions and cultural differences which resurface as problems from time to time. As governance has to evolve, it should be able to avoid repeating past mistakes if it eschews the patterns of power that work against the public interest.

Groups of people who live in the same area – ‘societies’ in the terminology of this book – have to decide for themselves what kind of governance is appropriate at a particular point in time; there is no universal set of principles or single ‘right answer’ which would suit them all. Although there are common elements in the problems faced by every society, each is unique in some aspects and each will have to make different adjustments. Solutions will have to be custom-built and adjusted when necessary. It is, though, possible to use a common analysis approach, such as the one described in this book, to clarify public discussion as people decide how to update and improve their governance.

This is a search for a methodology, not a series of suggested solutions.

This book doesn’t attempt to define a best form of governance, but nor does it take up the relativist position that ‘anything goes’. It accepts that people may have different beliefs and tastes, which are entirely their own affair, but it argues that we need to be able to rely upon the behaviour of others – especially when those others are in positions of power. The ceding of power to others, in exchange for the benefits of collective governance, is a bargain which can only be justified if it is acceptable to those who are subject to it. It is suggested here that there are four overlapping measures by which governance can be judged:

Acceptability:
Acceptability (to the population) is a broad measure of governance. People know what is, or is not, acceptable to them as individuals – and whether a proposed change might increase or reduce acceptability.

Negotiability:
Governance must be able to respond to change, if it is to remain acceptable; negotiability enables people to influence it.

Inclusiveness:
Governance can also be measured by the extent to which power is exercised for the benefit of everyone in a society, recognising the diversity of people’s views and cultural backgrounds. Acceptability to oneself has to be tempered by the need for acceptability to others in the same society, to avoid future conflict.

Prudence:
Policies should take account of the likely trends for the next several years. It is imprudent, and damaging to the population, to maximise short-term acceptability whilst allowing foreseeable problems to grow unchecked.

It is reasonable to seek these characteristics in the governance of any society; they are ways of measuring its quality, not prescriptions for how it should be conducted. They are not tied to any specific political philosophy or ideology, so they provide a pragmatic assessment of whether governance is likely to succeed in benefiting a population.

This book identifies five types of power: four of which are exercised in structured dimensions of governance – Economic, Moral, Legal and Political – and the fifth is the use of Self-Protection, where trials of strength result in a balance of power in the absence of credible governance (or as a supplement to it). These ways of exercising power can take place at any level of society, from the family group to the whole planet, in what is termed a hierarchy of 'subsidiarity'.

This approach – through the consistent recognition of the ways in which power-patterns recur – facilitates a complete analysis: separating the different types of power and enabling the perspectives of all the stakeholders to be considered. Contentious issues are placed in their context, so that people can see the pressures behind opposing arguments and make up their own minds. The book provides links to its source material, much of which is accessible on the Internet, so that readers can easily do further research into subjects which are of interest to them.