Resources are assets that can be used to force others to do what one wants. Politicians become powerful because they y command resources that people want or fear or respect. Civil rights activists in the 1960s relied mainly on their numbers and the legitimacy of their cause to get their way whereas corporations frequently depend on their access to officeholders, control of information, and campaign contributions. Whatever the case, pluralists emphasize that power is not a physical entity that individuals either have or do not have, but flows from a variety of different sources. Potential versus Actual Power.
Pluralists also stress the differences between potential and actual power.
Cash, one of many resources, is only a stack of bills until it is put to work. Martin Luther King Jr., for example, was certainly not a rich person. But by using resources such as his forceful personality, organizational skills, and especially the legitimacy of his cause, he had a greater impact on American politics than most wealthy people. A particular resource like money cannot automatically be equated with power because the resource can be used skillfully or clumsily, fully or partially, or not at all. Scope of Power.