Political power (
imperium in Latin) is a type of
power held by a
group in a
society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labour, and wealth. There are many ways to obtain possession of such power. At the nation-state level
political legitimacy for political power is held by the representatives of national
sovereignty. Political powers are not limited to
heads of states, however the extent to which a person (such as
Joseph Kony,
Subcomandante Marcos, or
Russell Means) or group such as an
insurgency,
terrorist group, or
multinational corporation possesses such power is related to the amount of
societal influence they can wield, formally or informally. In many cases this influence is not contained within a single
state and it refers to
international power.
Political scientists have frequently defined power as "the ability to influence the behaviour of others" with or without resistance.
For analytical reasons, I.C. MacMillan[1] separates the concepts power
and influence
