Page 95 - Cultures and Organizations

More Equal than Others 77

a society in which power distances are large, authority tends to be tradi-
tional, sometimes even rooted in religion. Power is seen as a basic fact of
society that precedes the choice between good and evil. Its legitimacy is
irrelevant. Might prevails over right. This is a strong statement that may

rarely be presented in this form but is reflected in the behavior of those
in power and of ordinary people. There is an unspoken consensus that
there should be an order of inequality in this world, in which everybody

has his or her place. Such an order satisfies people’s need for dependence,
and it gives a sense of security both to those in power and to those lower
down.
At the beginning of this chapter, reference was made to the tendency
in some societies to achieve consistency in people’s positions with regard
to power, wealth, and status. A desire for status consistency is typical for
large-power-distance cultures. In such cultures the people who hold power
are entitled to privileges and are expected to use their power to increase
their wealth. Their status is enhanced by symbolic behavior that makes
them look as powerful as possible. The main sources of power are one’s
family and friends, charisma, and/or the ability to use force; the latter
explains the frequency of military dictatorships in countries on this side of
the power distance scale. Scandals involving persons in power are expected,
and so is the fact that these scandals will be covered up. If something goes
wrong, the blame goes to people lower down the hierarchy. If it gets too
bad, the way to change the system is by replacing those in power through
a revolution. Most such revolutions fail even if they succeed, because the
newly powerful people, after some time, repeat the behaviors of their pre-
decessors, in which they are supported by the prevailing values regarding
inequality.
In large-power-distance countries, people read relatively few news-
papers (but they express confidence in those they read), and they rarely

discuss politics: political disagreements soon deteriorate into violence.
The system often admits only one political party; where more parties are
allowed, the same party usually always wins. The political spectrum, if it
is allowed to be visible, is characterized by strong right and left wings with
a weak center, a political reflection of the polarization between dependence

and counterdependence described earlier. Incomes in these countries are
very unequally distributed, with a few very rich people and many very