you move through systems of power that other people made.

你藉由別人訂定的權力系統來活動

Do you sense them?

你有感覺到嗎？

Do you understand power?

你知道什麼是權力嗎？

Do you realize why it matters?

你知道他為什麼重要？

Power is something we are often uncomfortable talking about.

權力這件事 通常是我們不想多談

That's especially true in civic life, how we live together in community.

尤其真實在都市生活中 如同在社區一起生活

In a democracy, power is supposed to reside with the people, period.

在民主社會中 權力應該歸屬於人民

Any further talk about power and who really has it

任何深入的討論權力及誰該擁有真正的權力


seems a little dirty, maybe even evil.

看起來有點骯髒 又或著是邪惡的事

But power is no more inherently good or evil than fire or physics.

但其實權力無關善惡 就像和火或物理一樣

It just is.

權力就是權力

It governs how any form of government works.

權力決定政府的所有工作方式


It determines who gets to determine the rules of the game.

也決定誰能夠制定遊戲規則

So learning how power operates is key to being effective,

所以學習權力如何運作是有效率的關鍵

being taken seriously, and not being taken advantage of.

並讓自己被認真對待、不被佔便宜

In this lesson, we'll look at where power comes from,

在這堂課中 我們研究權力從哪裡來

how it's exercised and what you can do to become more powerful in public life.

權力如何運作 以及如何在日常生活中 掌握更多權力

Let's start with a basic definition.

從最基本的定義開始

Power is the ability to make others do what you would have them do.

權力就是讓別人去做你想要他們做的事情的能力

Of course, this plays out in all arenas of life,

當然 這包括了生活中各個領域的事情

from family to the workplace to our relationships.

從家庭到工作場 甚至是感情關係

Our focus is on the civic arena,

這邊的重點是市民方面的權利

where power means getting a community to make the choices

這權力指的是在一個社群中 可以作選擇

and to take the actions that you want.

以及做你想要做的行動

There are six main sources of civic power.

市民的權利 有六種主要來源

First, there's physical force and a capacity for violence.

第一種 有物理上的力量和用暴力的能力

Control of the means of force, whether in the police or a militia,

透過警察或民兵等手段 來進行控制

is power at its most primal.

是權力的最主要來源

A second core source of power is wealth.

第二種權力核心來源是財富

Money creates the ability to buy results and to buy almost any other kind of power.

錢能使鬼推磨，能塑造任何事的結局並買通權利

The third form of power is state action, government.

第三種形式的權力 是國家措施 也就是政府

This is the use of law and bureaucracy to compel people

透過法律以和行政命令來規範人民

to do or not do certain things.

哪些是能做 哪些是不能做的事


In a democracy, for example, we the people, theoretically,

舉例來說 在民主社會 理論上是人民


give government its power through elections.

透過選舉賦予政府權力


In a dictatorship, state power emerges from the threat of force,

而在獨裁政府下 國家權力來自武力的威脅

not the consent of the governed.

而不是來自被統治者的認同

The fourth type of power is social norms or what other people think is okay.

第四種權力 是社會規範 或是大家認為的善良良俗

Norms don't have the centralized machinery of government.

社會規範沒有集權的政府機構

They operate in a softer way, peer to peer.

以較為鬆散、人對人的方式來運作


They can certainly make people change behavior and even change laws.

這些規範絕對可以改變人民的行為 甚至改變法律

Think about how norms around marriage equality today are evolving.

看看這些規範如何影響今天的婚姻平權制度

The fifth form of power is ideas.

第五種權力是想法

An idea, individual liberties, say, or racial equality,

一個想法 像是個人自由、言論自由或是種族的平等

can generate boundless amounts of power

如果能夠打動夠多人並改變他們的想法和行動

if it motivates enough people to change their thinking and actions.

可以產生無止盡的力量

And so the sixth source of power is numbers, lots of humans.

所以第六種權力來自數量的優勢 人多勢眾

A vocal mass of people creates power by expressing

藉由表達多數人的利益

collective intensity of interest

大眾的聲音形成權力

and by asserting legitimacy.

同時主張合法性

Think of the Arab Spring or the rise of the Tea Party.

看看「阿拉伯之春」 或「茶黨」的興起

Crowds count.

人多勢眾

These are the six main sources of power, what power is.

這就是權力的六種主要來源

So now, let's think about how power operates.

現在 我們想想權力是如何運作的

There are three laws of power worth examining.

權力有三個法則 值得我們去檢視。


Law number one: power is never static.

法則一 權力是一直在變的

It's always either accumulating or decaying in a civic arena.

公民的權力總是此消彼長

So if you aren't taking action, you're being acted upon.

所以 如果你沒有採取行動 你就變成被動

Law number two: power is like water.

法則二：權力如水

It flows like a current through everyday life.

它像潮流一樣在我們的日常生活中遊走

Politics is the work of harnessing that flow in a direction you prefer.

政治讓此潮流往我們所希望的方向運作

Policymaking is an effort to freeze and perpetuate a particular flow of power.

制訂政策則控制著權力是否能完全運作

Policy is power frozen.

政策是固定的權力

Law number three: power compounds.

法則三：權力是加乘的


Power begets more power, and so does powerlessness.

權力可以招來更多的權力 沒權力的人就更沒權力了

The only thing that keeps law number three from leading to a situation

要避免第三個法則造成

where only one person has all the power

一個人擁有至高權力的情況


is how we apply laws one and two.

要看我們如何運用法測一及法則二

What rules do we set up so that a few people don't accumulate too much power,

我們要建立什麼規則 去防止少數人擁有太多的權力

and so that they can't enshrine their privilege in policy?

讓他們不能把特權套入政策中

That's the question of democracy,

這就是民主的問題

and you can see each of these laws at work in any news story.

你可以在新聞媒體中 看到這三種法則的運作


Low wage workers organize to get higher pay.

低薪的勞工團結 以得到更高的工資。

Oil companies push to get a big pipeline approved.

石油業爭取擴建油管的許可


Gay and lesbian couples seek the legal right to marry.

男、女同性戀者 尋求合法的結婚權力

Urban parents demand school vouchers.

都市家長的學券制要求

You may support these efforts or not.

你可能支持或不支持這些事

Whether you get what you want depends on how adept you are with power,

能否得到你想要的結果 取決於你對權力的熟練度

which brings us finally to what you can do to become more powerful in public life.

同時也延伸出最終問題 當我們獲得更多權力 在社會中你能做什麼

Here, it's useful to think in terms of literacy.

從文化的角度來看 這有幾個有用的觀點

Your challenge is to learn how to read power and write power.

你面臨的挑戰是學習如何閱讀權力和書寫權力

To read power means to pay attention to as many texts of power as you can.

關讀權力指的是 要盡你所能瞭解越多法規

I don't mean books only.

不只是讀書本而已

I mean seeing society as a set of texts.

而是把社會當成一套書


Don't like how things are in your campus or city or country?

不認同學校中、城市裡或國家中發生的事嗎？

Map out who has what kind of power, arrayed in what systems.

找出是誰 在什麼體系下 擁有什麼權力

Understand why it turned out this way,

瞭解它形成的原因

who's made it so, and who wants to keep it so.

誰來制定的？ 誰想要它保持現狀？

Study the strategies others in such situations used:

研究在這樣規定下的其他策略

frontal attack or indirection,

正面或間接的嘗試

coalitions or charismatic authority.

與權力方結盟或是吸引它


Read so you may write.

會閱讀你才能寫

To write power requires first that you believe you have the right to write,

書寫權力的第一件事 是要相信你有權力去寫


to be an author of change.

成為“改變”的作者

You do.

你做得到

As with any kind of writing, you learn to express yourself,

在任何形式的寫作中 學習表達自己

speak up in a voice that's authentic.

真實的表達出想法

Organize your ideas, then organize other people.

將你的想法變得有條理 然後管理其他人

Practice consensus building.

學習建立共識

Practice conflict.

學習整合不同意見

As with writing, it's all about practice.

寫作是要練習的

Every day you have a chance to practice, in your neighborhood and beyond.

每天都有練習的機會 在你的社區甚至是後院

Set objectives, then bigger ones.

設定目標 然後在設定更大的


Watch the patterns, see what works.

看看成果 哪個行得通

Adapt, repeat.

修改調整 然後重複去做

This is citizenship.

這是公民的權利

In this short lesson, we've explored where civic power comes from,

在這短短的課程中 我們說明了公民的權利從哪來

how it works and what you can do to exercise it.

如何運作以及如何去運用

One big question remaining is the "why" of power.

最重要的問題是 你為什麼需要權力。

Do you want power to benefit everyone or only you?

你想要權力讓每個人都受惠 或是只有你？


Are your purposes pro-social or anti-social?

你的目的是有利於社會還是傷害社會？

This question isn't about strategy.

這個問題跟策略無關

It's about character, and that's another set of lessons.

而是與個人的人格有關 這又是另外一門課題

But remember this:

但請記住

Power plus character equals a great citizen,

權力加上品德等於好市民

and you have the power to be one.

而你有權力成為一個好市民。