King mechanism

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The king mechanism was coined as a sociological term by Norbert Elias . He used it (in Die Höfische Gesellschaft ) to describe the ruler's strategy, which appears as a consequence of advancing centralization, to play off similarly strong interest groups that threaten him in such a way that they are in a balance of power and have to repeatedly appeal to him for his benefit. This not only keeps him in power, but is also suitable for increasing his reputation in such a way that one can e.g. B. overrated as a "brilliant" leader, while he is only a capable player of his social role .

Examples of balancing power strategies

Elias' prime example was the "Sun King" Louis XIV between the two classes of nobility and bourgeoisie, who let the nobility compete for their favor at court and thus ruined it economically, but kept the state administration separate from it and bourgeois intendants (administrators) like Jean-Baptiste Colbert assigned - hence the “ king's mechanism”. This mechanism can also be found, possibly weakened, in forms of authoritarian or democratically governed states, in corporations, institutions, etc. (cf. divide et impera ).

Such a power strategy of the king forced the renouncement of an immediate enforcement of the party self-interests. The actors also had to have learned in a “ process of civilization ” to tame their spontaneous needs and affects (“to control themselves”), and this also developed at the French royal court thanks to its strict ceremonial. In the up-and-coming middle class, he grew out of its budgetary business discipline.

Elias illustrates the mechanism using an example in which two groups face each other in a tug of war. Both parties are about equally strong and pull at different ends of the rope. A single person, the king, does not belong to either of the two groups, but can control the tension between the competing parties with very little effort. His intention is to keep the tensions down by pulling the rope on the side of the party that has just been defeated. The interdependence of those involved becomes clear from the fact that the individual has greater scope for decision-making, but at the same time is dependent on maintaining the tension, while the two parties repeatedly need the help of the king.

Angela Merkel is cited as a modern example of the formation and stabilization of a central position in the royal mechanism .

literature

  • Norbert Elias : The court society : Investigations on the sociology of royalty and the court aristocracy . Suhrkamp Verlag, 1983, ISBN 978-3518280232 .
  • Detlef Weinich: Institutions and affect control as “constraints” of social change. Norbert Elias (1897–1990) and the theory of civilization in the light of biological-systems-theoretical evolutionary concepts. In: Würzburger medical historical reports, 24, 2005, pp. 434–473, here: p. 447 ( The King's Mechanism ).

Individual evidence

  1. Detlef Weinich, p. 447
  2. ^ Neckel, Sighard : Divide and rule - and become indispensable. Norbert Elias: “The King's Mechanism”, in: Neckel, Sighard / Mijic, Ana / Scheve, Christian von / Titton, Monica (eds.), Great moments in sociology. Groundbreaking theoretical models of sociological thinking. Frankfurt / M. 2010, pp. 286-291. ISBN 978-3-593-39181-6
  3. ^ Neckel, Sighard : Divide and rule - and become indispensable. Norbert Elias: “The King's Mechanism”, in: Neckel, Sighard / Mijic, Ana / Scheve, Christian von / Titton, Monica (eds.), Great moments in sociology. Groundbreaking theoretical models of sociological thinking. Frankfurt / M. 2010, pp. 286-291. ISBN 978-3-593-39181-6
  4. Korte, Hermann : “And I'll look at it”. Angela Merkel's path to power. A case study, in: Löw, Martina (ed.), Gender and Power. Analyzes of the tension between work, education and family. Wiesbaden 2009, pp. 16-28. ISBN 978-3-531-15163-2