The notion of freedom, or our liberty quotient (i.e. the ratio of personal freedom to the lack of it), is tied inexorably to power and control over our lives, absolutely every sphere of it, whether the personal/social/cultural sphere, the economic sphere, the political sphere, or the environmental sphere.
The exercise of power is always consequential, ranging from small to large and from beneficial to harmful.
The exercise of power should always be judged by its behavior and its consequences. The judgment should always consider whether the two were morally right, the higher standard, and by the lower standard, the law of the land.
Whenever the exercise of power falls below either of those two standards wrongdoing in some kind and degree has occurred, and all wrongdoing is harmful in some kind and degree.
Power holders who exercise their power in ways that fall below either one of those two standards but especially the lower one should be held accountable for their wrongdoing. Failure to do so virtually guarantees repetitive wrongdoing with escalating consequences.
Power is never held equally throughout a heterogeneous population. Even within a small group, the power elite, some members hold more, some less power.
How much power an individual, group, government agency or corporation has can be approximately determined by the locus of the power (e.g., the CIA director versus a congressional committee member) and by the effort and effects of the power exercised. Minimal effort and maximum effects, or consequences, suggests maximum possible power at that time. Power can probably never be absolute but will come close to being so if the consequences apply to the entirety of the intended object, such as, for example, power over employees in a corporation or over prisoners.
A nation state that is an empire probably represents the maximum power that can be politically, economically, militarily and geographically held. The defining characteristics of an empire are "the permanent rule and exploitation of a defeated people by a conquering power."3
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