Ok - so how do we define and nurture "good" power - and attempt to curb "bad" power?
truth
The concept of power usually refers to force, to the capacity to make others do your will even when they resist (Max Weber). This is political power, control over people and resources. Sometimes we distinguish between legitimate power (e.g., authority) and illegitimate power (unauthorized power). For example, an armed robber may have the power to coerce you, but he has no right, no authority, to do so--his exercise of power is illegitimate. But an officer of the law has, under the proper conditions, the authority to coerce you, he has legitimate or "rightful" authority to do so.
But I'm glad that Phoenix expanded the notion to include "personal" power, i.e., competence. I think a poet, a singer, a painter, a pilot, anyone who exercises a skill or talent is reflecting power, but not necessarily OVER others; it might be exercised altruistically on behalf of others. Nevertheless, we usually think of power as a competitive advantage over others. The possessor of power may be a person, a corporation, a nation, who knows howmany possible agents of power there can be?
