Power is a central concept in both community organizing and advocacy for social change. For any given solution to a problem, advocates must analyze who has the power to give them what they are seeking. Also, organizations that want to make the most of their capacity, experience and size need to be able to analyze their own power in relation to their ability to win a given goal.

One way to make sense of the many types of power that exist is to categorize them into three classes or “dimensions”: 1) observable decision making (a judge makes a ruling in a trial), 2) the ability to set the political agenda (the mayor proposes a series of measures to improve the public schools) and 3) the ability to shape meaning (history textbooks minimize the role of labor unions in US history). These dimensions of power range from the most obvious and visible to the most hidden. Discussions of and other resources concerning power are available on the Grassroots Policy Project’s website.

Most organizations will conduct a power analysis at the time they develop a strategy for winning a specific objective. Advocates need to be very clear about identifying their campaign “target”, i.e., the person or people with the power to give them what they are seeking. When the target is someone who advocates find difficult to influence directly, further analysis can help identify “secondary targets” who the advocates can influence and who also has influence over the primary target.

Also, advocates can make the most of their resources if they take the time to conduct an honest assessment of their organization’s power in relation to their desired goals. For example, it makes little sense to make enacting a controversial city ordinance opposed by property owners your policy goal without the ability to mobilize large numbers of people, seasoned staff and leaders, a city-wide base (or at least strong allies in other communities), and sufficient resources to make the campaign a real priority. It also is wise to choose objectives that require your organization to bolster its power to win, increasing the likelihood that your group will build its membership and become more powerful through the campaign.