Exercising power incurs mobilization, liquidity, and application costs across three distinct stages

Evidence

In the analysis of the role of power in distributive processes, it is necessary to consider the costs of power. These costs are generated in three stages of the power process - that is, the mobilization of resources, the maintenance of resources in a ‘liquid’ form (i.e., ready for use), and the application of resources to reward or punish other actors. Situations of potential conflict necessitate the keeping of resources ready for use, generating liquidity as well as (potential) application costs. — Walter Korpi, The Iceberg of Power below the Surface, 9

Categorization

• DEFINE: This three-stage cost schema is the conceptual backbone of why power holders prefer indirect, institution-mediated strategies.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s interest in operationalizing power as a measurable stock that must be held ready, not merely displayed. — connects to: Power holders routinize outcomes into institutions to cut mobilization and application costs — Walter Korpi, The Iceberg of Power below the Surface:…, 9