If we consider some of the important problems which confront many societies today, such as the problem of poverty and powerlessness existing side by side with affluence, problems of violence and social conflict, ethnic assertions, gender and racial discrimination, or problems consequent to the inequalities of power which may exist between states in the present world system, our attention would be drawn to the different dimensions of power and inequality which may exist in a society and to the complex interrelationships between different levels of power. However, our examination of rational choice and exchange theories, systems theories, and structuralist-Marxist theories in the preceding chapters indicated that each of them tended to focus on certain dimensions of power at the cost of others and to address a limited range of questions regarding power in society. By addressing these questions about power each set of theories drew attention to certain important dimensions of power in society. But they were not able to give sufficient consideration to other related dimensions of power. Neither were they able to offer an adequate conceptualization of the interrelationship between the different dimensions of power nor the role of power in the social system.

Rational choice and exchange theories acknowledge the relative differences of power which may emerge between individuals and groups during the processes of social exchange but their primary model of social processes is of a competitive market in which individual actors enter into strategic transactions with each other. They have paid less attention to the more structured differences in a society which may influence the resources that individuals and groups can bring to the exchange process.