Coercive Power

Beyond Intractability: A Free Knowledge Base on More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict

Coercive Power

	Coercive Power Huey Newton wrote, "Politics is war without bloodshed. War is politics with bloodshed." Though not all politics is coercive, it is certainly one way to force people to do what you want. This essay discusses the pros and cons of coercive power--violent, nonviolent, political, military, and more.
	Aggression This essay explores the debate over aggression, asking whether it is an instinct, a reaction or a learned response.
	Revenge and the Backlash Effect Most people hate to be forced to do things against their will. Using threats often produces such a large backlash that they cause more problems than they solve, as this essay explains.
	Sanctions Sanctions are punishments that are used to try to influence other groups or nation-states' behaviors. Examples are embargoes and prohibitions from attending international events. This essay describes the pluses and minuses of using sanctions to influence another's behavior.
	Nonviolence and Nonviolent Direct Action Nonviolent direct action is action, usually undertaken by a group of people, to persuade someone else to change their behavior. Examples include strikes, boycotts, marches, and demonstrations--social, economic, or political acts that are intended to convince the opponent to change their behavior without using violent force

Violence in the voice is often only the death rattle of reason in the throat. -- John Boyes

Featured Links
Organizations Making Noteworthy Contributions to Efforts to Promote More Constructive Conflict

Learning for International NGOs (LINGO)

Other Resources from
Beyond Intractability

A User's Guide for Third Siders
The Third Side concept was developed by William Ury. Third Siders are people who try to see both sides of a conflict and encourage cooperative solutions, fair fights, and decision making that advocates solutions which meet everyone's interests and needs as much as possible.

Nobel Peace Prize Winners

Georges Pire
Former leader of the relief organization for refugees "l'Europe du Coeur au Service du Monde," and 1958 Nobel Peace Laureate

Beyond Intractability Version IV
Copyright © 2003-2010 The Beyond Intractability Project
Beyond Intractability is a Registered Trademark of the University of Colorado
Project Acknowledgements

The Beyond Intractability Knowledge Base Project
Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess, Co-Directors and Editors
c/o Conflict Information Consortium (Formerly Conflict Research Consortium), University of Colorado
Campus Box 580, Boulder, CO 80309
Phone: (303) 492-1635; Fax: (303) 492-2154; Contact