Luke’s three faces of power and the CDoH
| Three ‘faces’ of power | Mechanisms | Example |
| Instrumental | Exerts direct influence on decision makers, for example, via lobbying, campaign contributions, revolving door; highlights relationships commercial actors have with other stakeholders involved in policy making | In 2013, the American soft drink industry (Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and the American Beverage Association) spent $10.9 million dollars lobbying the US government.82 |
| Structural | Influences the agenda-setting process that precedes decision making (‘non-decision-making power’) and can limit the range of choices available to policy makers; can also involve the acquisition of decision-making power via self-regulation | The political and economic importance of Mexico and Brazil’s sugar cane industries influenced government’s unwillingness to regulate the food industry.83 |
| Discursive | Influences norms and ideas that underpin and precede agenda setting and political decision-making; shapes public opinion of issues and non-issues | The European Union lobby group FoodDrinkTax portrayed a sugar tax as a ‘nanny state’ intervention that limits ‘personal freedom’.84 |