Why Liberal Theories of Power are Utilitarian: Real Costs, Opportunity Costs and Power
| Author | Hugh Ward |
| Published date | 01 October 1982 |
| Date | 01 October 1982 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9256.1982.tb00067.x |
| Subject Matter | Article |
8
Geoffrey
K
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-0-000-0-
WHY
LIBERAL THEORIES
OF
POWER
ARE UTILITARIAN:
REAL COSTS, OPPORTUNITY
COSTS
AND POWER
HUGH
WARD
Introduction
the power of trad? unions can be studied by observing their aggregate impact on the
rate
of
inflation
.
This impact
is
used as evidence for growing union power and,
in turn, for legislation to curb this growth. In fact this sort of study is an
example of
a
very common form of sloppy thinking about power and its related concepts.
For the liberal theory
of
power almost universally gefines power as the ability
to advantaqeously affect conflicted social outcomes
.
Power
is
only possessed
if
costs do not rule out profitable interventions. Power is only exercised
if
the
benefits outweigh any costs incurred.
It
is by no means obvious that inflation is
advantageous to unions, even to particularly strong unions. Although unions may
be able to affect the rate of inflation, and this might legitimise controlling
unions, inflation would only illustrate their power
if
it
could be shown that
it
was of advantage to them3.
by demonstrating
its
impact on real wages either. There are costs to be taken into
account; loss of earnings due to strikes; possible cuts in long term real wages
due
to
lack
of
investment; unemployment of members. These need to be traded in some
way against short term advantages.
It
is
not accidental that liberal theories of power link power with gaining
advantage.
If
power
is
an ineradicably evaluative concept
it
is partly because
the distribution of power is held to be related to the distribution of other values.
This is why the conceptual error we are examinilng
is
so
dangerou:.
To
move illegi-
timately from the unions' ability to affect the economy to their economic power
without examining costs
is
to make statements which, by implication, have crucial
distributional relevance. As we shall see below, the problem under discussion here
has other important repercussions, the trade union problem being just one particu-
lar
1
y outs tand
i
ng
examp
1
e.
There
is
a small scale academic industry in Britain based on the contention that
A
particular union cannot be shown to be powerful just
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