Subjugation becomes common knowledge because power resources are salient and detectable

Evidence

The question as to whether such conditions obtain is going to be salient for nearly everyone involved, since it is of pressing interest for human beings to know how far they fall under the power of others. And the fact that the conditions obtain, if they do obtain, is usually going to be salient for most of the people involved: this, since the kinds of resource in virtue of which one person has power over another tend, with one exception, to be prominent and detectable. There is a salient question, then, and a salient basis for answering the question. And this means, plausibly (Lewis 1969: 56), that in cases where the answer is ‘Yes’—in cases where the conditions for subjugation are fulfilled—there is a basis for common knowledge, or at least for something approaching common knowledge, that they are indeed fulfilled. Everyone will be in a position, not just to see that the conditions are fulfilled, but to see that everyone else is in a position to see that they are fulfilled, and so on. — Philip Pettit, Republicanism, 308

Categorization

• XREF: Contrasts with the reader’s solidarity research: if domination becomes common knowledge via salient detectable power resources, the parallel question is what makes positive collective projects similarly salient yet visible to all participants. — connects to: Becoming common sense is a key route to hegemonic power; Common sense is a key route to hegemonic power in democracies
• QUESTION: Pettit notes power resources are detectable ‘with one exception’ — which resource escapes salience? Worth chasing in subsequent chapters.

Broader Connections

• Becoming common sense is a key route to hegemonic power #corroborates (0.85)
• Common sense is a key route to hegemonic power in democracies #exemplifies (0.78)