Symbolically generalized power exceeds linear gains in physical force

Evidence

We find a similar break in the path towards escalation if we consider the problem of the generalization of power on the basis of physical force. Communication media are structured in too complex a fashion for it to be possible to increase their functioning on a linear scale. An increase in the disposition over the instruments of physical force only concerns one particular, albeit important, avoidance alternative. The increase quickly reaches saturation point, after which it no longer produces greater certainty, let alone more power. … Then the generalization of the symbolic code no longer takes the form only of a universal device which can be used for almost any purposes. Rather, it is general on a higher level, in that it is able to combine very different types of resources and to focus them on selectivity in very different types of situational contexts. For this reason the most generalized instance of power does not hand a power-holder complete choice within a very large range of alternatives (he cannot himself reduce so much complexity), but, like money, it is able to encompass the greatest possible variety, by determining others’ decision-making premises. And for this reason too the bottleneck does not lie in having the instruments of power at one’s disposal but in the extent to which highly complex decision-making contexts are subject to rational control. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 715

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines what Luhmann means by the symbolic generalization of the power code, contrasting it with linear escalation of force.
• XREF: The idea that power functions like money by determining others’ decision-premises connects directly to Giddens’s expert systems: individuals defer to institutional premises rather than negotiating face to face.