Societal Economic Power in Canada: A Framework For Analysis

Review article Societal Economic Power in Canada: A Framework For Analysis ROY T. BOWLES Gerald J.J. Tulchinsky, The River Barons: Montreal Businessmen and the Growth of Industry and Transportation 183753 . Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1977. xiv, 310pp. $22.95. Wallace Clement, Continental Corporate Power: Economic Linkages Between Canada and the United States. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Ltd., 1977. 408 pp. $16.50/$6.95 paper. This paper focuses on the study of societal economic power in Canada. It presents a framework which emphasizes the structural consequences of decisions and distinguishes between three levels of analysis: powerful people, powerful organizations, and institutional forms through which power is exercised. This framework is applied to four benchmark studies and two recent studies. Societal economic power is the capacity to make and implement economic decisions which have extensive consequences throughout the society. This capacity rests with the economic elite who sit at the command posts of large economic organizations. Because they control the capabilities of these organizations the elite are able to gather and process the information necessary to formulate decisions. Because they are able to issue and enforce directives through the personnel and facilities of these organizations they can choose to allocate the resources controlled by the organizations to some objectives rather than others. In every period of Canadian history there have been economic elites who controlled the capacities and resources of large organizations and were, as a consequence, able to make decisions which shaped the institutional 106 structures of the society in fundamental ways. In each period there have been more or less standard institutional forms through which power was exercised, but these forms have changed over time. ''Societal power'' directs attention to the structural consequences of decisions and away from the specific intent of actors and the interpersonal dynamics among actors. The emphasis here stands in contrast to that found in discussion of social power which follow from Weber's definition : ''the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance.'' I Some decisions , for example, a family's selection between consumer products, produce no broad change. Others, for example, to build a transcontinental railway, shape institutional structures in fundamental ways. The commercial class of the St. Lawrence failed to achieve the empire which was its objective, but the decisions which it made and implemented in the attempt shaped the political and economic institutions of Canada.2 A study of power may emphasize elites, organizations, or institutional forms. Elite studies identify those individuals who hold societal power, their characteristics, the relationships between them, and the way they exercise power. Organizational studies identify concrete economic organizations such as named companies and discuss their mode of operation, the resources they control, and the consequences of their actions. Institutional studies analyze the standardized social forms through which economic activities are conducted. For example, the corporation is an institutional form with characteristic procedures which distinguish it from other ways of structuring economic activity. Each type of study may be either cross-sectional, emphasizing the patterns which exist at a particular time, or historical , emphasizing the processes by which a particular pattern has developed. Figure 1 identifies the three types of economic power studies and the question posed by each within both the crosssectional and historical forms. Donald Creighton, in The Commercial Empire of the St. Lawrence, 1760-1850,3 focuses on the merchants engaged in the staple trade and Revue d'etudes canadiennes Vol. 14, No. I (Printemps 1979 Spring) Cross-Sectional Studies Historical Studies Elite Studies Who are the individuals who have the capacity to make and implement decisions having consequences throughout the society? What are the social background characteristics of these individuals? What networks connect powerful individuals to each other? What are the processes by which individuals have acquired control of resources and organizations? For example, have the following been important: - inheritance? - immigration and capital transfer? - patronage? - entrepreneurship and capital accumulation? To what extent has there been a change in the individuals , families, or groups who are powerful through different periods? Figure 1 Organizational Studies What are the concrete named economic organizations through which economic power is...