Complexity, Selectivity and Asymmetry in the Conformation of the Power Phenomenon. Analysis of Chilean Society

TL;DR

This study applies Complex Network Theory and sociological concepts to analyze Chilean social power, revealing that power distribution is uneven, network properties resemble small-world and scale-free networks, and power dynamics are shaped by selective linking among elites.

Contribution

It introduces a novel metric for social power and combines complex network analysis with sociological theories to explain power distribution and inequality in Chilean society.

Findings

Power distribution is inhomogeneous and scale-free.

The network exhibits small-world and modular properties.

Power inequality persists due to selective linking among elites.

Abstract

In this work we analyzed the relationships between powerful politicians and businessmen of Chile in order to study the phenomenon of social power. We developed our study according to Complex Network Theory but also using traditional sociological theories of Power and Elites. Our analyses suggest that the studied network displays common properties of Complex Networks, such as scaling in connectivity distribution, properties of small-world networks, and modular structure, among others. We also observed that social power (a proposed metric is presented in this work) is also distributed inhomogeneously. However, the most interesting observation is that this inhomogeneous power and connectivity distribution, among other observed properties, may be the result of a dynamic and unregulated process of network growth in which powerful people tend to link to similar others. The compatibility between people, increasingly selective as the network grows, could generate the presence of extremely powerful people, but also a constant inequality of power where the difference between the most powerful is the same as among the least powerful. Our results are also in accordance with sociological theories.