Power operates only on a subject presumed to choose his own actions freely

Evidence

The power-subject is expected to be someone who chooses his own action and thus possesses the possibility of self-determination. It is for that reason alone that the instruments of power, such as threats, are brought to bear against him, in order to direct him towards carrying out the choice himself. And even the power-holder claims not just to represent what is true but also that he is acting according to his own will. For this reason it is possible to propose the possibility of attributable ‘localized’ differences in the relationship between the two of them. A transmission of reduced complexity takes place when, and in so far as, alter’s action is involved in determining how ego selects his actions. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 619

Categorization

• XREF: Directly operationalizes Luhmann’s mechanism of power via self-determination — this is the exact machinery behind Stevens’s devotion to Darlington as free voluntary choice, relevant to the reader’s Ishiguro thesis.
• DEFINE: Defines the power-subject as self-determining chooser, the premise that makes threats and sanctions meaningful instruments.