Complex societies institutionalize power to make coercion possible.

Evidence

The use of coercion itself can only be centralized in very simple societal systems. More complex systems can only centralize decisions (or even decisions about deciding the premises for making decisions) about the use of force. That means that they must develop power to make coercion possible. The concept of a ‘coercive apparatus’ introduced by Max Weber covers this situation. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 597

Categorization

• XREF: Connects Weber’s coercive apparatus to Luhmann’s systems theory of power. — connects to: Whoever controls the institutions and men of violence can impose social order — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 317; Prisoner work-based self-organization could overpower formal carceral authority completely. — Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White, 155