Nikki Callanta
Dr. Gloria Guevara
Politics 101
28 February 2013
Political Power Power has been something mankind has endlessly fought for from our very beginning. And though we’ve come a long way from war-waging territorial disputes to form the great countries we have now, it’s something we still use greatly today whether it be something small such as being head of household or head of the company. In this paper I will be discussing possibly the greatest power there is: political power. To start, let’s define what power is. Power in relation to politics is the driving force of politics. Without power our governments could not function. In politics, power has many sources which include a large population, thriving economy, united society and wise leadership. Political power is usually seen as national wealth or even military spending and it is never equally distributed. (Magdstadt 3,4) So now, what is politics? Politics is puzzling and for the most part goes unrecognized, but most of us can see it when it is put to the test. We as a community select a certain few and empower them, (Magdstadt 3) so that they can convey what it is that we want, and who can provide us with what we need. People can participate in politics, by voicing their opinion on how things should be enforced. They can do this by participating in elections or partaking in a referendum when they believe something should be changed. (Magdstadt 274, 280) This affects public interest because politics is first and foremost about the people who are governed. My thesis is how those with political power can do so much to shape our world into an ideal environment, but often it is used in less than ideal, if not downright questionable or repulsive ways. It’s up to the people to make a difference To understand political power, I will first discuss the different types of power there are. We can identify two types of power found in politics, hard power and soft power. Politics also relies on derivative power which stems from a nation’s accomplishments. Leaders, states and corporations all display political power. Leaders demonstrate power most noticeably since they’re constantly viewed and judged in the public eye. They are our most direct representative of what we want and can deliver to us what we need. States show power in ways we normally don’t think of in our day to day lives. Though they work with the public, they also use globalization. Working with other states and also deterring other states as possible threats. Corporations present power that is often criticized. They influence products and service we use in our everyday lives and usually hold much sway with our governments since they can fund our governments and provide them with means to protect our countries with products such as weapons. Leaders, states and corporations influence politics greatly, not just by what they stand for or the things that they might do, but because they all have one thing in common that lets them wield such power, and that is money. The narrator in film Ethos posed that elections are more like an auction and whoever has the most money wins. Previously I talked about hard power and soft power. Hard power is power that is used usually through military force, threats to use such force and the use of coercive methods. (Magdstadt 476) Soft power is the ability of one to talk people into wanting what they want through charisma and respect based off ones successful ideas and accomplishments. (Magdstadt 477) I also touched on derivative power which is political power gained from areas like art, science and technological prowess and the prestige that follows from the prior. (Magdstadt 476) In regards to leaders and multinational corporations, it is safe to say they use both hard and soft power. On one hand a leader like a candidate for presidency in American politics during elections, will promise the people widely accepted changes if elected and have inspiring slogans, which is an example of soft power. And on the other hand that same leader can use military force to impose the new laws they pass for terms of their obedience which is an example of hard power. With corporations they appeal to the public promoting a product or service with catchy advertising and displaying how many years they have been doing business showing us reliability, which is soft power. But the ugly methods they use to get us these products, is a form of hard power. Other qualities that leaders have to yield power over the people are their networks of people and the use of the media. For example, we’ll talk about Vladimir Putin from the video The Putin System. In 1999 when Putin was nominated to Prime Minister no one really knew him show he displayed that he could make a firm political stand and became the ideal military leader. His previous career choices were extremely influential to his future career when he eventually became president. He appealed to all sorts of people in his country, blending in and promoting himself as an ideal leader and even took hold of the media in Russia. Eventually, with the oligarchs, he began to run Russia as if it were a corporation. The way Putin yielded power has been through outlets of corruption, manipulation, and propaganda. Corruption was used when a righteous prosecutor who was stirring trouble for the oligarchs, was framed with sex tape caught on security cameras. This was by Putin’s hand under the oligarchs pleas. Manipulation was used by how he blended with the society and won the hearts of all types of people. Propaganda was used on Russia’s youth, those who weren’t around during the era of the Soviet Union. Soon, the country’s songs were sung and military parades were celebrated again. Now I want to talk about multinational corporations and exactly how much political power they really hold. Thanks to globalization, mass trade and media link our nations together and also keep them in check. (Magdstadt 467) Think about it this way, where there is money, there is power, power is the currency of all politics, so therefore those with money have power in which they can influence politics. In democratic countries they have the capacity to influence policy areas that include taxation, energy, defense and foreign affairs. (Magdstadt 492) There are two sides to every coin; even though multinational corporations provide millions of people with jobs they are very dangerous. They can “operate outside the legal control of any one national government”. (Magdstadt 493) In The Corporation, the company Monsanto gave very little regard to the tested livestock that suffered at the handiwork of its product, Prosilac. Cows suffered from mastitis on their udders and caused pus that may sometimes have leaked into the milk that many American have been drinking. Monsanto also created a chemical named Agent Orange, which they tested airborne over Vietnam. One side effect of those in contact with Agent Orange was mutilations or deformities. Corporations impact the lives of average citizens on a daily basis. They mass produce items that we use every day, they own billboards that we pass on the freeway on the way to work, influence the media with advertisements that tell us we absolutely need what they’re selling, just to name a few ways the way they influence us. Corporations have the ability to infringe on individual rights. Take, for example from This is What Democracy Looks Like, at the Wellco factory in China that produced shoes for Nike, women who were pregnant or those over the age of 25 were fired on impulse. They were also subject to corporal punishment, humiliation and verbal abuse. Corporations can influence democracy, which in theory have a prominent voice in shaping our government policies, by influencing public opinion. In This is what Democracy Looks Like, they state that over fifty percent of the media is owned by corporations. For example, they can effectively back a candidate for presidency in American politics, especially if it is one who will pledge to help that particular corporation out or vice versa. The Federal Reserve Bank is a way government and corporations are working together to promote the interests of a few. What we can take from Ethos, is that the Federal Reserve is a central banking system that works with, not for, the American government to supply the nation with its money supply, but at the cost of doubled interest effectively rendering us unable to ever pay back the debt. This only benefits the few who run the Federal Reserve. The one effective way that corporations can be brought under control is if the general public can be unified and stop buying from them and alternatively turn to mom and pop shops. Also if people researched concerns on their own accord and not necessarily take what they can get from the media, which is greatly influenced by corporations. My thesis was, that those with political power can do so much to shape our world into an ideal environment, but often it is used in less than ideal, if not downright questionable or repulsive ways. And that it is up to the people to make a difference.

Works Cited
Magstadt, Thomas Understanding Politics: Ideas, Institutions & Issues Belmont: Cengage
Learning, 2012. Print.
Ethos. Dir. Pete McGrain. 2011. Film.
The Corporation. Dir. Mark Achbar. Zeitgeist Films, 2004. Film.
This is what Democracy Looks Like. Dir. Jill Friedberg, Rick Rowley. Koch Entertainment,
2000. Film.
The Putin System. Dir.Jean-Michel Carré. 2007. TV Movie.