diffuse concentration

[danielxu85]

I think you could "diffuse enthusiasm", but could you diffuse concentration? Could you tell me how I can express the same idea in a natural way? Could I say "diversify concentration"?

We should work to diffuse concentration of power and enhance public supervision of the government.

 

[vachecow]

I would say
We should work to diffuse the concentration of power and enhance public supervision of the government.

 

[danielxu85]

Could I say "diversify concentration"?

 

[vachecow]

Yes, that would make sense.
For your reference:
diffuse: to spread or scatter widely or thinly; disseminate.
diversify: to make diverse, as in form or character; give variety or diversity to; variegate.

 

[Thomas Tompion]

Why not say diffuse power? What is this non-governmental public body which is going to supervise the government of China?

 

[danielxu85]

Hi, Thomas! You are my savior! Finally, I find someone who agrees with me that the sentence has a problem.

This sentence was spoken by the Prime Minister of China. He thinks that the Chinese government has too much power and lacks supervision. Could I say "scatter power"?

 

[Orange Blossom]

Scatter the concentration of power doesn't quite work in this context. Scattering doesn't have any real control to it, and results can be very haphazard.

Spread out the power so it isn't so concentrated

Delegate the powers to several offices or groups

Depending on what you want to express in the larger context, there are many different ways of expressing this.

Do you want small local governments to have more power and the central govt. less?

Do you want the populace to have more power than they currently have?

The answers to these and other questions will have an effect on which words you should use.

Orange Blossom

 

[danielxu85]

Thanks, Orange Blossom! Do you think "diffuse power" would work? Does it mean small local governments to have more power and the central govt. less, or the populace to have more power than they currently have?

Am I right that Spread out the power means "small local governments to have more power and the central govt. less"?
Am I right that Delegate the powers to several offices or groups means "the populace to have more power than they currently have"?

 

[Orange Blossom]

Do you think "diffuse power" would work?

Thomas Tompion has said earlier that it would.

Does it mean small local governments to have more power and the central govt. less, or the populace to have more power than they currently have?

It depends on how it is done. Diffusion can take many forms. You would have to delineate how the diffusion should occur.

Am I right that Spread out the power means "small local governments to have more power and the central govt. less"?

No, it doesn't. The power could be spread out within the central goverment.

Am I right that Delegate the powers to several offices or groups means "the populace to have more power than they currently have"?

Unlikely. In my post, "Depending" started a new thought. There is no connection in meaning between the phrases above and the questions below that sentence. Further, these were just two possible questions.

I thought of the word "delegate" because of the oversight committee you mentioned in an earlier post. That committe would 'delegate', assign power, to several different places. "Delegate" in and of itself does not suggest diffusion, spreading out, etc. The rest of the phrase is necessary for the meaning to be clear that the power is being spread out. The problem inherent in having an oversight committee such as this is that it in turn would have a concentration of power.

Orange Blossom

 

[danielxu85]

Thanks very much, Orange Blossom! I am a big fan of you!