Home Focus Areas ArkSpring Assets Community Power Making A Difference Blog
Continuum of Community Power
A Tool for Communities Seeking
Full Agency to Realize Their
Community Vision
Dr. Deidre Sanders, PhD ArkSpring Consulting
Continuum of Community Power©
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0. Ignored
Uninformed, uninvolved, unconsidered.
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1. Notified
FYI, BTW, “To whom it may concern…”
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2. Tokenized
Community “leader” proxy(ies).
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3. Patronized
Performative public participation
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4. Pacified
The Passive Power of "No”
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5. Parity
Equilibrium, or mutually-shared dependence
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6. Creator
Ideates and creates beneficial community development plan
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7. Initiator
Supplicant. Uses positional leverage
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8. Driver
Compel support of community priorities through control of community institutional resources
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9. Partner
Considers only complementary resource providers
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10. Full Agency
Recognized, respected, resourced, protected. Identifies and implements community priorities
Power Factors
Rank factor as "High", "Moderate", or "Low" for each stakeholder
The extent to which each party will benefit from, or be burdened by, the pending action. The higher the impact or incentive, the higher the relevance, importance and "intensity".
Relevance
What are the comparative resources of the external stakeholder(s) relative to those of the community? (e.g., staff, issue expertise, access to decision-makers, money, time, leadership, comprehensive strategic plans, etc.)
Resources
(1) Formal organizations that credibly represent community interests in decision-making forums and make commitments on behalf of their communities. (2) External stakeholders that have transparent decision-making and resource allocation processes engage with community consistently across their internal business/issue groups.
Organization
Power Assessment
Given Issue Relevance, Comparative Resources, and Organizational Credibility and Transparency, rank the relative power dynamic among the external stakeholders and the community
Relevance + Resources + Organization = Power
When the right message meets the right tools and structure — that's when real transformation happens.
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Relevance
The importance/intensity of the initiative to the affected stakeholders (e.g., a public health concern, significant GHG source reduction, key business growth opportunity/risk management need)
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Resources
Resources – such as time, money, capacity subject expertise, process control, asset control, access to information, and access to decisionmakers,
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Organization
Organization mission, funding, issue capacity, expertise, maturity/experience, credibility, and leadership quality improve.
The Result: Power
The degree of issue relevance combined with resources, and organizational effectiveness that a group brings to the interaction with other stakeholders greatly predict its ability to achieve its goals or protect its interests.
© ArkSpring Consulting
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