With greater power

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. Abraham LincolnComment by ANITESH: When you are quoting you must explain the relevance of the quote with respect to the context of the essay. Just writing the quote and then forgetting is not the right thing Given the importance of the terms 'power' and 'responsibility' in building institutions and relationships around which the behavior of human beings as a collective is governed, the good place to begin this essay would be understanding the evolution of 'power' from the ancient period to the modern times in all its dimensions- w.r.t. how it is acquired, exercised, accounted and sustained- and its relationship to 'responsibility'. This understanding would be an interesting journey with lot of insights to be fetched for the effective administration of power for the wellbeing of all in its field of influence. Power, in simple terms, is the ability to influence others decisions. This applies not just in terms of ends, actual results, but also means, the thought processes that go into producing those ends. And 'Responsibility' in a very general sense refers to the ability to respond effectively to any given challenge; such that the response would be beneficial to everybody it effects. So power becomes sanctioned into legal authority when its ability to influence and govern meets the requirements of this responsibility, to meet any given challenge that effects society at large. Before the organized modern republic systems, in primitive societies power was captured coercively and had been passed hereditary and arbitrarily which led to concentration of power, crisis in its transfer, lack of viable opposition, accountability, checks and balances and eventually arbitrary authority or despotism. As any arbitrary authority ruling coercively cannot meet any kind of responsibility or needs of the society it becomes unsanctioned and unaccepted, which eventually lead to its own decline. With evolution and series of revolutions and political crisis, from the period of monarchy and oligarchy we have entered into a sustainable stable political system of republics where power or sovereignty rests with people itself to whom it is responsible. Democracy that exists today in most countries of the world is a fine example to this kind of political structure, where accountability and responsibility constituted into its power structure to restrain and rationalize the authority of government. So the question that arises is what kind of power is really necessary for an individual and by extension a nation to create a healthy self-image? And at what point does it cease to be a stimulant and becomes destructive? Answering these questions can do enough justice to understand its journey.So is power per se an anathema? How to define it in the first place? And how do stakeholders create a template for utilizing it?