According to Ellis-Christensen (2014), "The term hegemony refers to the leadership, dominance, or great influence that an entity or group of people has over others." Hegemony comes from a Greek word, hegeisthai, which means to lead. Years ago, this term was often used to refer to a country or state that exercised power over other city-states or countries indirectly instead of the use of military force. In modern times the word hegemony often refers to the ability of one group in society to have power over others in the same society. A good example would be the wealthy class where we see them exercising hegemony over the poor in society due to the ability to use available resources to influence many aspects of society and government. Individuals who are able to exercise power over others in society are called hegemons. The term hegemony is usually used to refer to the power of a single group in a society to fundamentally dominate and lead other groups in the society. This happens in different ways, for example by influencing government leaders, controlling forms of communication or influencing voters. Take for example some lobbying groups, which may have a hegemonic status over some leaders in power. In order to limit political spending by special interest groups, some rules are designed to reduce their dominance and allow individual voters to have more control. In modern times a single country could also be considered hegemonic if it possesses enough power to influence how other countries behave in the international system. Hegemonic states, such as the mid-19th century British Empire and the 21st century United States, exert extraordinary influence on many other countries. The hegemony... at the center of the card... the members of the historical bloc. As counterhegemonic activities gain influence or rather put hegemons under duress, consensus ceases to be a way to govern the people. Hegemons have the ability to act unilaterally when it comes to pursuing their own interests. This move raises expectations among national actors and officials that the government will do whatever is necessary when national interests are at stake. Hegemons also have a role to play in maintaining the international order envisaged by international law or international institutions. This ensures a fair distribution of power and prevents conflicts from arising. Under this we see hegemons in the position of having to follow the rules and regulations of the institutions they helped create. To do otherwise undermines the existence of such institutions, even if it is not in its interest to do so.