private power, n.All

Private power (n.) becomes ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the government's praetorian guard — at once its tool and its tyrant, bribed by its largesse and overawing it with clamour.

Private power (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the half of the nexus of power that free societies forget: investment, work, finance — and even public expression, run by firms that sell audiences to advertisers.