Revisiting the Power Debate - Perceptions of Racial Politics in America

Power is a fascinating concept because it demands for an articulation between the theoretical and conceptual map of the structure of institutions, political and social actors and its correspondent effects in concrete reality along with the actual perceptions that people in their everyday life have. In this essay I will look at how the debate on power has envolved, more precisely, in the North American context. This essay in three fold: first, I want to account for the emergence of the power debate with C. Wright Mills and his concept of a ´power eleite´ as well as the 'community power' debate that followed him in its three accounts - the pluralist with Dahl, the second face of power with Bachrach and Baratz and the third face of power with Lukes and Gaventa. Second, I will turn to the debate that shaped the 1970s, with a particular emphasis in racial politics. By racial politics I mean that by having 'race' as matrix of analysis I will try to identify which conceptualization of power is the most capable of explaining the dynamics of the black population with the political claims of moving towards a more egalitarian society in the post Civil Rights moment era in the United States. Finally, I will argue that in order to better account for de dynamics of power that shape American political and social structures, a more promising line of approach would be to take the several models presented above and see how the several faces of power complement each other, instead of granting priority of one model over another.