Effective power is unnoticed power; power observed is power devalued. […] The architects of power in the United States must create a force that can be felt but not seen. Power remains strong when it remains in the dark; exposed to the sunlight it begins to evaporate.« Huntington (1981, S. 75)

https://www.samuelhuntington.org/

Power that is invisible to those subject to it. Power does not want to be seen, it only wants to be felt in its effectiveness. It seeks to conceal itself as power through institutionalization and bureaucratization, while at the same time consolidating itself. For as soon as it is exposed as power, it is confronted with questions of its legitimacy. Power, however, does not want to be accountable to anyone. 21.06.25 The sociologist and social historian Norbert Elias has demonstrated this in detail in his cultural-historical studies and states: "The people do not believe in a power that is present, but not visibly manifested in the behavior of the ruler himself. They must see to believe." 21.06.25

https://norbert-elias.com/

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