Administered systems

power and domination

pp. 148-196

in: Ira J. Cohen, Structuration theory, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 1989

Abstract

In the last chapter I introduced the term "administered systems' as a synonym for the self-reflexive mode of system organisation. The term "administered systems' is appropriate because in systems of this kind the reproduction of activities, the consequences of activities, and systemic relations across time and space are coordinated and controlled through the exercise of administrative procedures which ultimately are meant to serve the intentions of superordinate agents. Administered systems therefore are power systems par excellence, and much of this chapter will be devoted to a consideration of their distinctive political qualities. But this is not the only theme to be developed here. To understand administered systems as power systems requires a prior grasp of Giddens's innovative approach to generic issues regarding power and domination at large. This comprises an extensive topic in itself, and the chapter begins with a clarification of the issues involved.