Power resources theory: A reconstruction mico-macro

The power resources theory (PRT) has become one of the dominant theories to explain economic redistribution processes and, specially, the origin of welfare states in industrialized capitalist democracies. Nevertheless, the PRT approaches appear in several articles and books emphasizing different aspects of the theory. This prevents us from having a complete overview of the connections between the assumptions and the main assertions of the theory. The present article argues that PRT can be reconstructed in terms of micro-macro links in order to considerer two things: first, the micro-macro social elements encompassing PRT and, second, the specific relationships where these phenomena lie. On the one side, PRT asserts that the macro-social phenomenon of a welfare state depends upon two related macro-phenomena: social structure of classes and collective action. According to PRT, the distribution of capital and labor resources will group individuals in two large social classes: employees and employers. This would allow employees to group and commit themselves in collective action, pressing the state for larger social expenditure which benefits the disadvantaged sector of society. On the other side, the relationship among these three macro social phenomena requires incorporating the rational action of individuals as a core element, which allows us to explain the emergence of phenomena at macro level. This means PRT supposes a micro-social theory that permits to comprehend the motivational and cognitive aspects of rational action of employees participating in collective action. None of this is sufficiently specified by PRT. Thus, inasmuch as the PRT links at the micro- and macro-level can be elucidated, it will become possible to present more precisely those elements that explain in general the emergence of social institutions.