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http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/5664
Title: | Ableness and ability: Morriss on power and counteractuals |
Authors: | Dowding, KM |
Issue Date: | 1990 |
Publisher: | Brunel University |
Citation: | School of Social Sciences, Department of Government, Working Paper No. 10, 1990 |
Abstract: | Peter Morriss's logical ability/ableness distinction breaks down under analysis but a similar normative distinction is important for understanding power and liberty. The breakdown is demonstrated under the test case of the power of a pivotal voter in a committee. Brian Barry argues that a pivotal voter has power as ableness not ability, but the paper demonstrates that a pivotal voter has neither. Under standard measures the 'power' of the pivot is due to the chance ordering of all committee members' preference schedules. Rather than power, each has a resource which, when certain conditions obtain, can be powerfully utilized. The power of the pivot depends upon the realization that those conditions obtain thus the power index literature requires modification. |
URI: | http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/5664 |
ISBN: | 1-872166-70-9 |
Appears in Collections: | The Brunel Collection Brunel Law School Research Papers |
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Fulltext.pdf | 2.05 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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