Elite power over the imperial matrix is not absolute

Evidence

Pobyedonostzev in his Reflections of a Russian Statesman, London, 1898: “Power exists not for itself alone but for the love of God. It is a service to which men are dedicated. Thence comes the limitless, terrible strength of power and its limitless and terrible burden” (p. 254). Or: “The law becomes a snare not only to the people, but …to the very authorities engaged in its administration …if at every step the executor of the law finds in the law itself restrictive prescriptions …then all authority is lost in doubt, weakened by the law …and crushed by the fear of responsibility” (p. 88). — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2449 (#expands, via linked claim)

We cannot here go into the details of the forms in which meta-communication relating to power can be pursued. For our purpose we are mainly interested in seeing that distinguishing between code and process takes the form of a modalizing of communicative acts. This modalizing – and not, for instance, an ability, strength or potential inherent in the power-holder, and also not merely the means at his disposal – forms the basis of the fact that power is effective as a bare possibility, even without engaging the so-called instruments of power. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 629 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Sacralized imperial power frames law itself as a snare that weakens authority — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2449; Imperial power operates through selective ignoring rather than panoptic surveillance — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1384; Power is misimagined as exterior restriction rather than interior formation — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 25 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• A coherent imperial ideology need not produce effective rule #corroborates (0.85)
• Sacralized imperial power frames law itself as a snare that weakens authority #expands (0.82) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2449
• Power operates as modalized possibility rather than actual force or capability #qualifies (0.80) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 629
• Imperial power operates through selective ignoring rather than panoptic surveillance #responds-to (0.78) — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 1384
• Power is misimagined as exterior restriction rather than interior formation #expands (0.75) — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 25