Dispositional concepts like strength and ability conceal power’s modal nature.

Evidence

Such expressions hide the fact that power is a modalization of communicative processes because they combine the expression of possibility with an attribution of power to the power-holder. In this function they are parts of the power-code itself. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 638

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to Stevens’s deference: ‘potential,’ ‘ability,’ ‘professionalism’ verbalize possibility while attributing it to the hierarchy — hiding that power is a communicative modality.