Editing Power (social and political) (section)

=== Gene Sharp ===
[[Gene Sharp]], an American professor of political science, believes that power ultimately depends on its bases. Thus, a political regime maintains power because people accept and obey its dictates, laws, and policies. Sharp cites the insight of [[Étienne de La Boétie]].

Sharp's key theme is that power is not monolithic; that is, it does not derive from some intrinsic quality of those who are in power. For Sharp, political power, the power of any state – regardless of its particular structural organization – ultimately derives from the subjects of the state. His fundamental belief is that any power structure relies upon the subjects' obedience to the orders of the ruler(s). If subjects do not obey, leaders have no power.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sharp|first=Gene|title=From dictatorship to democracy: A conceptual framework for liberation|publisher=The Albert Einstein Institution|location=East Boston, MA|url=http://www.aeinstein.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/FDTD.pdf|year=2010|edition=4th U.S.|isbn=978-1-880813-09-6|access-date=16 October 2014|archive-date=28 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828034018/http://www.aeinstein.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/FDTD.pdf|url-status=dead}} (See [[From dictatorship to democracy|book article]].)</ref>

His work is thought to have been influential in the overthrow of [[Slobodan Milošević]], in the 2011 [[Arab Spring]], and other [[Nonviolent resistance|nonviolent]] revolutions.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Arrow|first1=Ruaridh|title=Gene Sharp: Author of the nonviolent revolution rulebook|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12522848|website=BBC News|date=21 February 2011|access-date=20 July 2018|archive-date=21 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221153028/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12522848|url-status=live}}</ref>