Even unlawful power is power – and, in fact, in a different sense to the one in which untruth is truth. It is real power which must always be taken into account by the lawful power-holder, and not simply a possibility, whose arrival one can await with curiosity and an interest to learn, while possessing the possibility of negating it.

XREF: Connects to political realism and theories of effective power versus legitimate authority, echoing Machiavelli and Weber.

Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, loc. 664