Countervailing Power, or countervailence, is the idea in political theory of institutionalized mechanisms that the wielding of power within a polity having two or more centers can, and often does, provide counter-forces that usefully oppose each other. This political organization stands in contrast to polities such as principalities where "various princes were absolute rulers in their domain" or in modern examples of totalitarian governments.
History
Countervailance in formal political theory dates back at least to Medieval times, especially in Roman Catholic and early Protestant movements, not all of which were successful in achieving their own ends.
The Conciliar Movement, although ultimately ending in failure to reform the Catholic church, "raised issues that are fundamental in all domains of social organization, and it contributed to the understanding of the general principle of countervailance, which eventually became the foundation of modern constitutionalism."
In the 20th century, "Countervailing Power" is a theory of political modification of markets, formulated by American economistJohn Kenneth Galbraith in his 1952 book American Capitalism. In the classic liberal economy, goods and services are provided and prices set by free bargaining. According to Galbraith, modern economies give massive powers to large business corporations to bias this process, and there arise 'countervailing' powers in the form of trade unions, citizens' organizations and so on, to offset business's excessive advantage.
In the 1950s and 1960s, labor unions were viewed as a source of countervailing power because of their activism on behalf of the working class and their significant political clout.
And you cannot stay in power if you don’t deliver to your people ... I’m stressing the countervailing power of individuals against any government or economic system, and in the West, we translate that through consumption ... You’ve seized power.
And you cannot stay in power if you don’t deliver to your people ... I’m stressing the countervailing power of individuals against any government or economic system, and in the West, we translate that through consumption ... You have power.
Simultaneously, centers of countervailing power that between the 1930s... Meanwhile, the pay of average workers has gone nowhere because they have lost countervailing economic power and political clout.
But for the first time, there is an effective countervailing force — powerful new obesity drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound that allow people to ignore the siren call of high-calorie foods and large portion sizes.
“In the first term, everyone was fighting me,” Trump said ... 1 ... 2 ... The U.S ... In the 1950s and 1960s, labor unions were viewed as a source of countervailing power because of their activism on behalf of the working class and their significant political clout.
China has developed sufficient countervailing economic and military power and diplomatic influence to render this also an unprofitable option ... But it is a global economic power with vital economic ...
That leaves a lone bastion of countervailing power, one force capable of meaningfully slowing the maximalist ambitions of the incoming administration ... As they pondered the latent power of state ...
51,” a position paper instrumental to our founding institutions, Madison argues that the new Constitution had to establish checks and balances in which component parts of our government had powers to countervail dangerous lurches by another.
"In recent years, the government has been trying to countervail the high pricing power of dominant tech companies," Peter Cohan, an associate professor of management practice at Babson College, previously told Business Insider... ....
... opportunistic political allies would have never allowed the judiciary to disturb the long-existing power axis, or to crystallise its institutional resistance into a permanent countervailing force.
Now most were back in jobs, but the jobs paid no more than they had two decades before in terms of purchasing power ... They have allowed giant corporations to monopolize without giving workers the countervailing power to unionize.
And contrary to widespread assumption, American power is not diminishing ... It is hard to counter American power through countervailing coalitions like the BRICS or the mobilisation of the non-Western world.
https.//www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/pentagon-warns-no-limits-ukraine-support-if-north-korea-joins-war ...There are two possible real explanations ... The French send troops ... ORDER IT NOW ... The absence of countervailing power is building toward a major war.
