Lukes contrasts the ways power operates in government settings versus how it operates in a larger societal context. His device of critiquing traditional conceptions of power is by arguing that there is not one but 3 dimensions to social power. The first dimension restricts power to decisions taken by a class of political actors such as politician, civil servants and lobbyists. Its assumed that power is distributed evenly across various political parties and interest groups. In this scenario, the actors decide the outcome of an issue where there is an observable conflict of interests. In practice: Power is excised through negotiation and bargain until a decision is reached which is accepted by all parties, even if it was not there preferred