Category: Politics, Power, and Governance

A SHORT COURSE IN PROPERTARIAN CLASS THEORY

PART 1: AWARENESS, INFLUENCE, INCENTIVE AND COERCION

SPECTRUM OF INFLUENCE

(a) Ignorance – none

(b) Awareness – speech

(c) Influence – speech

(d) Incentive – exchange

(e) Coercion – violence

(f) Enslavement – perpetual violence

INCENTIVES

Incentives are factors that motivate and influence the actions of individuals. Something that an influencer can use to provide a motive for a person to choose a particular course of action.

Organized cooperative activities in a social setting — such as cooperation for the purpose of economic production — depends upon each of the participants having some sort of incentive to behave in the required cooperative fashion.

Different societies (and even different organizations within the same society) vary considerably in the nature of the incentive systems upon which they characteristically rely to organize their common projects. — from Johnson (with edits)

I. PERSONAL CATEGORIES OF INCENTIVES (Johnson)

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Incentives may be classified according to a number of different schemes, but one of the more useful classifications subdivides incentives into three general types: MORAL INCENTIVES, COERCIVE INCENTIVES and REMUNERATIVE INCENTIVES.

A person has a COERCIVE INCENTIVE to behave in a particular way when it has been made known to him that failure to do so will result in some form of physical aggression being directed at him by other members of the collectivity in the form of inflicting pain or physical harm on him or his loved ones, depriving him of his freedom of movement, or perhaps confiscating or destroying his treasured possessions.

A person has a MORAL INCENTIVE to behave in a particular way when he has been taught to believe that it is the “right” or “proper” or “admirable” thing to do. If he behaves as others expect him to, he may expect the approval or even the admiration of the other members of the collectivity and enjoy an enhanced sense of acceptance or self-esteem. If he behaves improperly, he may expect verbal expressions of condemnation, scorn, ridicule or even ostracism from the collectivity, and he may experience unpleasant feelings of guilt, shame or self-condemnation.

A person has a REMUNERATIVE INCENTIVE to behave in a particular way if it has been made known to him that doing so will result in some form of material reward he will not otherwise receive. If he behaves as desired, he will receive some specified amount of a valuable good or service (or money with which he can purchase whatever he wishes) in exchange.

All known societies employ all three sorts of incentives to at least some degree in order to evoke from its members the necessary degree of cooperation for the society to survive and flourish. However, different societies differ radically in the relative proportions of these different kinds of incentives used within their characteristic mix of incentives.

II. POLITICAL: THREE COERCIVE TECHNOLOGIES (Doolittle)

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The Three Coercive Technologies.

1) FORCE:

Tool: Physical Coercion

Benefit: Avoidance Benefit

Strategic use: Rapid but expensive.

“Seize opportunities quickly with a concentrated effort.”

2) WORDS:

Tool: Verbal, Moral Coercion

Benefit: Ostracization/Inclusion, and Insurance benefit

Strategic Use: slow, but inexpensive.

“Wait for opportunity by accumulating consensus.”

3) EXCHANGE: Remunerative Coercion With Material Benefit –

Strategic use: efficient in cost and time, only if you have the resources.

III. STRATEGIC: POWER / THREE TYPES OF POWER

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Power is defined as possessing any of the various means by which to influence the probability of outcomes in a group or polity using one of THE THREE COERCIVE TECHNOLOGIES.

Power is the ability to Influence, Coerce or Compel individuals or groups to act more according to one’s wishes than they would without the use of influence, coercion or compelling.

There are only three forms of power possible:

1) Populist Power (Religion, Entertainment, Public Intellectuals)

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2) Procedural Power: Political, Judicial, and Military Power (Soldiers, Judges and Politicians)

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3) Economic Power (people with wealth either earned or gained through tax appropriation).

It is possible and often preferable to combine all three forms of power in order to coerce people most effectively. Conversely, it is possible and preferable to create an institutional framework in politics that restricts the ability to combine different forms of power in an effort to constrain power.