The Incredible Power of Asking a Question

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Power and influence are not straightforward. To be sure, politicians, judges, officials, or activists are easy to see. What is more subtle, though, is how public debate, awareness, and consent are manufactured on a daily basis by many other people who, at first glance, may not seem all that powerful.

The conventional story of politics is that policy is the result of some kind of debate, where a topic first comes up, competing views are formed, a consensus or a compromise is reached, and people in power act upon the result while presuming that all reasonable people will cooperate. However, politics is much more often a game of which actions one can afford to take. If one misjudges the opposition, the consequences can be severe. This is what can be prevented by the manufacturing of public debate and public consent.