Dominate
To dominate is to exert controlling influence over someone or something, or to be the most prominent or powerful element in a situation.
Power (social and political): The capacity to shape behavior, decisions, or outcomes, including through control of resources or institutions. Domination is one way power becomes an enduring relation between agents.
Influence: The capacity to affect another person's actions, beliefs, or outcomes. Domination is stronger than influence because it implies controlling or prevailing power.
Social dominance theory: A theory explaining how group-based social hierarchies are maintained through institutions and legitimizing beliefs. It explains how dominance between groups can persist beyond individual encounters.
Leadership: The process of guiding or influencing a group toward shared goals. Leadership may involve influence without the unilateral control implied by domination.
Social stratification: The structured ranking of people into social layers with unequal resources and opportunities. Persistent dominance can harden into unequal positions across an entire society.
Coercion: The use of threats or force to make someone act against their preference. Threats can secure compliance without making the dominated person agree.
Control (social science): The ability to direct, constrain, or regulate actions, processes, or outcomes. Control names the directing capacity that often makes domination possible.
Hegemony: Leadership or predominance that secures influence through institutions, ideas, and consent as well as force. Hegemony describes dominance sustained partly by shaping what seems legitimate or normal.
Prestige: Social esteem or admiration attached to a person, group, or occupation. Prestige can make someone prominent without giving them controlling power.
Oppression: Prolonged and systematic unjust treatment that constrains a person or group's freedom and opportunities. Domination becomes oppression when control systematically imposes harm and unequal constraints.