Power, is a concept which is extremely difficult to define, but not to
measure. The power of one nation consists on both material and nonmaterial
elements. Material elements consist on the country´s territory, its armed
forces or the economic growth and it's measured during a specific period of
time. Nonmaterial elements consist mainly in political influence over people
within a political party. All of the elements aforementioned are of key
significance in the process of measuring power as a capability. Knowing all of
this we can now talk about Mr. François Hollande and the recent changes made in
the country’s cabinet.
The recently elected president of France François Holland has been able
to make changes in the cabinet as he just announced recently. Holland seems to
have created a moderate left cabinet. In order to transform the cabinet, he had
to leave out the head of the socialist leftist party Martine Aubry. Promises of
gender equality in the senate were fulfilled by the choice of both Mr. Holland
and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. The fulfillment of the promise of
equality within the cabinet was fulfilled by having 17 female members out of
the 34 member cabinet. The principles of power can be easily seen in this
matter, for instance Mr. Holland’s party while trying to influence the French
people they had scheduled the cabinet’s first meeting in Ascension Day (May the
20th). The cabinet’s intention was to show that they intend to go straight to
work rather than celebrate. Showing
interest for the motherland will reinforce national will and give them a more
stable foothold as in the matter of public acceptance and patriotism.
It is necessary to have in mind that the power of a nation within its own
boundaries is usually of the ‘’soft” type, which means that it is not enforced
by physical means, rather by speech and persuasion. Even though the use of soft
power is unmistakable, it is important to highlight that dominance and
reciprocity have been the basis for the creation of the new cabinet. The
principle of dominance is enforced as soon as Mr. Hollande leaves the former
head of the socialist party out of the cabinet. Dominance is mainly seen
through threats or by administering some sort of punishment. While dominance
might seem one of the most plentiful, we have to remember that reciprocity is a
big deal in politics as for the doing of favors and its consequences.
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