Critique of pluralist power
Robert Dahl (1957) defined power as A's ability to get B to do something B would not otherwise do, and Dahl (1961) analyzed key decisions in New Haven, concluding that different groups held influence on different issues. This is the pluralist view of power. Bachrach and Baratz (1962) argued that because this approach examines only issues that are actually decided, it misses power that operates on issues that never reach the agenda. The debate was part of the long dispute between elite theory and pluralism.
Nondecisions and the mobilization of bias
Bachrach and Baratz (1963) called decisions that suppress or thwart challenges to existing values or interests 'nondecisions'. Dominant groups can ignore threatening demands, delay them through procedures or label them illegitimate to keep them off the formal agenda. The idea builds on Schattschneider's (1960) insight that 'organization is the mobilization of bias': political institutions and norms are biased to bring some conflicts into the open and suppress others. It connects to agenda-setting research.
Critiques and later developments
Wolfinger (1971) raised a methodological problem: how can decisions that never happen be observed and measured? Bachrach and Baratz replied that researchers can study grievances that were voiced but failed to reach the agenda. Steven Lukes (2005) later argued that both faces assume observable conflict and proposed a third dimension that shapes people's very wants and perceptions. This development is covered in three-dimensional view of power.
FAQ
- What are the two faces of power in simple terms?
- Power shows not only in winning votes at a meeting but in keeping unwelcome items off the agenda altogether.
- What is nondecision-making?
- Suppressing or ignoring challenges to existing interests so that they never become formal agenda items.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Bachrach, P., & Baratz, M. S. (1962). Two faces of power. American Political Science Review, 56(4), 947–952. The founding article.
- Bachrach, P., & Baratz, M. S. (1963). Decisions and nondecisions: An analytical framework. American Political Science Review, 57(3), 632–642. Defines nondecisions.
- Dahl, R. A. (1957). The concept of power. Behavioral Science, 2(3), 201–215. The first face defined.
- Dahl, R. A. (1961). Who governs? Democracy and power in an American city. Yale University Press. The pluralist New Haven study.
- Schattschneider, E. E. (1960). The semisovereign people: A realist's view of democracy in America. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Mobilization of bias.
- Wolfinger, R. E. (1971). Nondecisions and the study of local politics. American Political Science Review, 65(4), 1063–1080. Methodological critique.
- Lukes, S. (2005). Power: A radical view (2nd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. Adds a third dimension.