Power and Society: A Framework for Political Inquiry

work by Lasswell and Kaplan

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July 16, 2026

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Power and Society: A Framework for Political Inquiry by Harold Lasswell and Abraham Kaplan offers a comprehensive approach to understanding politics. The work defines politics as the study of changes in the distribution of value patterns within a society, with power being the central element in this distribution.1

Lasswell and Kaplan define values as desired goals and power as the capacity to influence decisions. They propose a framework for political analysis that examines key categories such as the individual, personality, group, and culture. This approach moves beyond simply identifying elites as power holders to a broader examination of how power operates within society. The book also explores how psychological factors influence political behavior and the pursuit of power.12

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Harold Lasswell
…holders of power, but in Power and Society: A Framework for Political Inquiry (1950), written with Abraham Kaplan, the discussion was broadened to include a general framework for political inquiry that examined key analytic categories such as person, personality, group, and culture.
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…holders of power, but in Power and Society: A Framework for Political Inquiry (1950), written with Abraham Kaplan, the discussion was broadened to include a general framework for political inquiry that examined key analytic categories such as person, personality, group, and culture.
Read More