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What Is Power? Understanding How It Works in Society

  Power is not only about politicians, laws or who has the biggest job title. Money, information, expertise, ownership, reputation, relationships and public pressure can all shape what happens. In this challenge you will map one real decision and work out where influence actually sits — including the checks that stop power being unlimited.  

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What Is Power? Understanding How It Works in Society

Your Mission
Build a power map showing who can influence one real decision — and the checks that stop any one actor having unlimited control.
You will distinguish formal authority from other kinds of influence, investigate how Parliament checks government, map the actors around a familiar decision and create an explanation of how power is distributed rather than simply naming who is ‘in charge’.
The Shape of This Challenge
Discover
✏️ Sort & define
Explore
️ Map & investigate
Create
Explain the system
Reflect
️ Reconsider & apply

Discover

Start by widening your definition of power.
Step 1

Power Is More Than Being the Boss

✏️ Sort & rank · 8–10 mins
We are learning to recognise different ways people and organisations can influence decisions.
Your Task
  1. Write four headings: Formal authority, Money/resources, Information/attention and Relationships/reputation.
  2. Place these examples under one or more headings: a government minister, a newspaper, a popular creator, a trade body, a school headteacher, a large company and a community campaign.
  3. Choose one example that fits more than one heading.
  4. Finish: “Power can come from…” using at least three different sources of influence.
I can identify several different sources of power rather than treating power as one thing.
→ This gives you the categories you will use in your power map.
Critical ThinkingSystems ThinkingClassification
Step 2

Who Checks the People With Formal Power?

Institution check · 10–12 mins
We are learning to understand the difference between government and Parliament and how scrutiny acts as a check on power.
Your Task
  1. Open UK Parliament: What is the role of Parliament?.
  2. Record two powers Parliament has and one way it checks or challenges government.
  3. Write one sentence explaining why Parliament and government are not the same thing.
  4. Add one question you would need to ask before assuming a single politician can simply make any decision they want.
I can explain at least one formal check on government power using an authoritative source.
→ This adds the idea of accountability and checks to your final power map.
Civic LiteracyResearchSource Evaluation

Explore

Map a real decision and test where influence actually comes from.
Step 3

Map a Decision, Not a Celebrity

️ Power-map build · 12–15 mins
We are learning to trace how several actors can influence the same decision.
Your Task
  1. Choose a non-party-political decision that affects young people: a school phone policy, a new local sports facility, public transport for young people or a platform changing its rules.
  2. Put the decision in the centre of a page.
  3. Add at least six actors who could influence it.
  4. Draw arrows showing how each actor has influence: law, budget, expertise, public pressure, ownership, media attention, data, votes or implementation.
  5. Mark one actor whose power is formal and one whose power is mostly informal.
I can show how at least six actors can influence the same decision in different ways.
→ This becomes the core visual evidence in your final explanation.
Systems ThinkingProblem SolvingVisual Thinking
Step 4

Find the Check, Limit or Counter-Power

Test the map · 10–12 mins
We are learning to identify limits, accountability and counter-power rather than assuming influence is unlimited.
⚡ Quick Track

Return to your map. For three powerful actors, add one limit or counter-power: law, election, regulation, budget, public scrutiny, competition, courts, users leaving, staff refusing, evidence or another institution.

Dig Deeper

Choose one actor on your map and use an approved research tool to ask: “What formal powers does this UK or Scottish institution actually have, and what limits or accountability mechanisms apply? Give me an official source.” Open the original source and verify two details before adding them.

I can identify at least three ways power can be limited, challenged or shared.
→ This stops your final piece becoming a simplistic ‘who controls everything?’ diagram.
ResearchVerificationCritical Thinking

Create

Turn the system into an explanation someone else can understand.
Step 5

Explain How Power Really Works

✏️ Plan first · Then create · 30–40 mins
We are learning to turn a complex power system into a clear explanation for another person.
Before You Create
  1. Write the decision you analysed.
  2. Choose your three most important actors.
  3. Include at least one formal power, one informal influence and one check or limit.
  4. Write your conclusion: where is power concentrated, and where is it shared?
  5. Choose one format below and create the finished piece.
Power Map
1 page · 6+ actors + 3 checks/limits + 80–120 words
⏱ 30–40 mins

Use arrows to show different kinds of influence. Your short explanation should identify where formal authority sits and where informal influence matters.

Who Actually Has Power?
3–4 slides · maximum 25–30 words per slide
⏱ 30–40 mins

Explain the decision, the main actors, the checks on power and your final judgement about whether power is concentrated or distributed.

Power Explained
60–90 seconds actual audio
⏱ 30–40 mins

Explain why ‘who is in charge?’ is often the wrong question. Use your mapped decision as the example.

I can create a finished explanation showing how power is exercised, shared and checked in one real system.
→ This is your finished mission output.
Content CreationCommunicationSystems Thinking
Step 6

Reflect, Apply, Look Forward

️ Talk or think quietly · 5–8 mins
We are learning to notice power structures more accurately in everyday life.
Reflect

Which type of power did you underestimate at the start — formal authority, money, information or relationships?

Apply

When you see a claim that one person or organisation ‘controls’ something, what question could you now ask?

Look Forward

Which future role interests you most: policymaker, journalist, lawyer, campaigner, regulator, researcher or business leader?

I can ask better questions about who can influence a decision and what limits their power.
→ You’ve completed the challenge by analysing a system of power rather than looking for one all-powerful actor.
ReflectionCivic LiteracyCareer Awareness
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Tools and Links
Educator notes

TOOLKIT

UK Parliament role: https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/ ; UK Parliament scrutiny: https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/scrutiny/ ; Scottish Parliament research on legislative competence: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/research-prepared-for-parliament/research-briefings/2026/5/19/sb-2627
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Educator / Parent Notes

Age, Stage and Prior Learning: Designed for S1–S3 at Foundation level. No prior political knowledge is required. Use familiar decisions before moving into institutional examples.
Before You Start: Ensure the UK Parliament role page is available. Avoid turning the lesson into party-political debate; the focus is structures, kinds of influence and accountability.
How to Open This: Ask: “Who has more power: the person who signs the decision, the person who controls the money, or the person who can persuade everyone to oppose it?” Accept multiple answers.
Scheduling: Steps 1–2 establish concepts. Steps 3–4 form the power-map investigation. Step 5 is the main creation block. Allow 60–90 minutes overall.
If a Pupil Gets Stuck: Use the school phone-policy example and provide actor prompts: pupils, parents, headteacher, teachers, local authority, government guidance, device companies and media/public opinion.
For Fast Finishers: Ask learners to distinguish formal legal power from practical implementation power in their chosen case and explain what happens when they point in different directions.
Marking Guidance: Look for multiple sources of power, a real distinction between government and Parliament, at least six actors, explicit checks/limits and a conclusion that avoids saying one actor simply 'controls everything'.
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