In such circumstances it is not possible to proceed step by step and thereby presuppose what power is. Instead, we must try to use more general concepts, which are in use elsewhere and which might serve the transfer of already established questions, and conceptual frameworks, which facilitate comparison and offer the possibility of relevant examination of other areas of interest.

DEFINE: Explains a methodological approach: when a concept like power can't be defined progressively, use general concepts from elsewhere to enable comparison and examination.

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 580