There are many theories of power, and one crucial factor in .
determining who has political power is in defining what political power .
actually is. Many concentrated on studying power relationships within .
communities: community power. Power is embedded in decision- making .
so that it is held by those who make decisions that can affect the .
community in general. Someone who is involved in making the key .
choices shaping a community have power in the sense that what they .
decide on changes people's lives and in this way, these decision- makers .
have power or control over other people. This is typical for pluralist .
theories of power. They focus their attention on the exercise of power, .
rather than its sources. On the other hand, some theorists felt that there .
was dominant elite in the community, that power is concentrated in the .
hands of a few. This might also refer to "stratification theory" of power, .
where power is a "subsidiary aspect of the community's social structure" .
and the main determinant of the distribution of power within a community .
is its social stratification. Stratification studies assert that communities are .
divided into classes. The upper class, or the group with the highest social- .
economic standing, hold the most power. They are the "power elite" and .
can exercise influence over a large number of community decisions, thus .
"ruling" the local community. .
There are many criticisms of the elitist approach. People .
understand power in different ways. They see different people as .
powerful in different ways. It is unlikely that everyone understands or .
knows the ways that in which different theorists believes the economic .
elite to hold power over the community. Some theorists argue that the .
economic elite is indeed important and very influential, but there are many .
other factors involved in the distribution of power in communities. There .
are though several elites who are not united.
