POWER GROUPS: CHARACTERISTICS AND EXAMPLES IN THE WORLD - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Power groups are a set of people or organizations that have the weight in making decisions about something in particular. These people or institutions can exert force with a very small scale of action or have a national or international role. As with pressure groups, these groups are made up of people with common motivations.

The strength they have depends on many factors. In some cases, power groups are influential because of the economic possibilities they have, in others because they accumulate a large number of weapons to assert their interests or simply because of the amount of culture they possess.

Armed organizations like the ELN are considered groups of power. Source: TV San Jorge, via Wikimedia Commons.

The examples of power groups are many and varied, and it can also be said that since the beginning of the history of societies they have been present. Currently it refers to churches, politicians, gangster groups, terrorists and even unions.

Definition of power

Power is linked to the human being since its creation. It was born because from the beginning it has been necessary to regulate the coexistence between the different societies in which people were grouped.

Not all are capable of developing their own characteristics to hold power. There are individuals who do not have the capacity or the interest to play roles of force at the social, political or economic level.

Power basically refers to the ability to demand that other people follow certain rules or orders. Power can be held violently or peacefully by reaching agreements or through voting.

Types of power

It is unlikely to find any kind of link with other people, even with other living beings, where the power does not manifest itself in some way. The family group is one of the first known power groups, where parents impose their rules due to their role of authority.

In society, power groups can be observed at the civil, military or political level. It is a type of power that is exercised by the position that is carried out in the communities or in the governments. Some scholars refer to this as formal power groups.

Power groups can use coercion methods, offer some kind of benefit, hold power legally, by choice or by merit. In turn, they can be grouped according to the alliances they achieve, by the resources they handle, by the positions they hold or by the personal relationships they create with some sector of society.

Authority vs power

Although they can be terms that are related to each other, it is not convenient to confuse authority with power. When an individual achieves authority over another it is because she has been recognized as part of a power group, as a factor that imposes her ideology or her desires. Power groups need this recognition in order to function properly.

Risks

The misuse of power or excess of it can cause problems. Power groups should have limited ranges of action so that the performance of their functions is adequate.

Corruption is a very common practice of power groups that stop looking after the interests at a general level and take advantage of the strength they have for personal gain.

characteristics

Power groups are usually very varied and organized by very different interests, although the members of the same groups must have common goals and interact regularly.

Sociologists have not established limits when it comes to differentiating the different groups that make life in society. Power, pressure and interest groups are often spoken of as isolated terms and on some occasions they are associated until one is confused with others.

Another way to refer to power groups is as power agents. There are those who name political groups as power groups, but these only represent one of the types that exist.

The importance of power groups lies in the ability or strength they have to operate and impose their ideas. The command that is exercised is also concentrated in a few individuals, a fundamental characteristic to guarantee order in society.

Within power groups there are also hierarchies and divisions. The goal should not be to meet the needs of specific groups. Power groups often work to please a much more general population.

Differences with pressure groups

There are some organizations that, depending on the context, can act as pressure or power groups. The two concepts should not be confused for this reason. The former seek to influence decision-making, the latter usually tend to force it.

Power groups are not always fully accepted by society. It usually has to do with the pressure factor they exert. That is why the actions they have are not always public knowledge.

In principle, neither of the two groups is usually consulted when making decisions, only that it is more common than to occur with pressure groups.

Examples of power groups in the world

The Church was one of the main power groups that existed in the world. In ancient societies, the role of the religious was very important to guarantee order at the social and political level. Although they still have a very important influence on some groups in society today, their range of action is no longer as great as in the past.

The church or the armies are formed as power groups and also gain legality thanks to the fact that their presence and area of ​​influence is established even in the constitutional texts of each nation.

They can be companies, the media or unions (which depending on the context can also act as pressure groups). These are figures that exist in all countries today.

There are violent and armed organizations that are also considered agents of power. Terrorist groups, drug traffickers or gangs have a very important influence on a group of people. They use fear and intimidation to get what they want.

Some power groups are elected. Political offices in nations are almost always chosen by voting. In ideal scenarios, it would be the citizens who will continue to have power, but it has become common to think that by voting they ceded their obligations to representatives who will be in charge of looking after their interests.

References

1. Amaro, R., Claude, M., Fazio, H., Gutiérrez, C., & Soza, N. (2005). The power of economic groups. Santiago: LOM Ed.
2. Ayala Blanco, F., & Mora Velazquez, S. (2010). Power groups. Mexico: National Autonomous University of Mexico.
3. Ayala Blanco, F., & Mora Velázquez, S. (2011). Power groups in Mexico: scope and perspectives. UNAM, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences.
4. Castillo Freyre, M. (1997). All the powers of the president. Lima: Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru.
5. D'Ávila Modesto, N. (2017). Agents, hegemony and power in the production of space.. Curitiba: Appris.