Governments, consumers, or corporations? Who has the most power? Perhaps the question should not be who has the most power, but who should have the most power? The answer is obvious. Consumers, otherwise known as the people, should have the most power. Unfortunately, it is not the consumers that have the most power, nor the government, but rather the corporations. Today, big corporations control schools, the economy, and even our government. The government and the consumers do have limited power as well, but the balance of power is in favour of the corporations. .
In order to continue with the argument that corporations have more power than consumers or the government, one must first define and explain the word power. The most basic definition of power isthe capacity to achieve what one wants.?1 Unfortunately, the aforementioned definition under-emphasizes the element of power. One should perhaps take the definition a step farther. If one has power, the powerful party also has the ability to have another, otherwise known as the powerless party, do what he or she would not, under different conditions, do. One must also look at the definition of power from the point of view of the powerless party, thus taking the definition another step farther. The powerful party has power over the powerless party if, and only if, the powerless party does something that he or she would not, under different conditions, do (or refrains from doing something that he or she would, under different conditions, do) due tosome action(s) or characteristic(s)?2 of the powerful. Power can take various forms. One is in the form of influence. Influence, in its most basic form, is the aptitude to convince another party to carry out the wishes or desires of the first, and .
furthermore, to convince the other party to have the same desires. If one is influenced, he or she, in most cases, acts voluntarily. Another form of power is coercion.
