  Coercion is one method by which a powerful agent can exercise and maintain his dominance over another. When one has the power needed to credibly threaten another, one can use that power to impose one's will on her regarding many choices (Anderson 2010). This power may give one the ability to dominate another in Pettit's sense, since it can be used arbitrarily to alter or constrain another's activities, even if it is in fact used only rarely. If one's threats are sufficiently credible, and if meeting one's demands is not devastating in itself, one may be able to leverage one's powers to influence many of the activities of others, while only rarely being required to expend one's powers in enforcement. Malignant governments and mafias are frequently able to maintain control over sizeable populations through threats and intimidation, though they may only infrequently interfere directly in the activities of others. If one's powers and wishes are well enough known through past demonstrations, one may even be able to avoid making many overt threats while still getting one's way.