Accordingly, the power of the power-holder is not satisfactorily described as a cause, or even a potential cause. It can be compared rather with the complex function of a catalyst. Catalysts accelerate (or decelerate) the triggering of events; without themselves changing in the process, they cause changes in the ratio of effective connections (or probability) expected from chance connections between system and environment. Thus, in the end they produce a gain in time – always a critical factor for the construction of complex systems. In this respect – and this we will term, following Kant, the concept of schematism – they are more general than their respective products. In the process of catalysis, they do not change, or do not change to the same extent as the accelerated (or decelerated) process produces or inhibits effects.

DEFINE: Luhmann reframes power via a catalysis metaphor rather than causality, invoking Kant's schematism to generalize the concept.

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 603