Program: Master of Social Work

Semester-II
Course Code: MSW 202 Paper: Community Organization

TOPIC

COMMUNITY POWER STRUCTURE

CONCEPT AND TYPES

Dr. Sandeep Giri

Department of Social Work
Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi
[Link]@[Link]
Keywords: Pluralist theory, elitist power structure , positional
method & decision making
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Dr. Sandeep Giri

 Table of Content

1. Learning objective
2. Meaning of power structure
3. Importance of community power structure
4. Types of power structure
5. Formal and informal power structure
6. Method of community power study
7. Elitist Power Structure
8. Pluralist Power Structure
9. Amorphous
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Dr. Sandeep Giri

 Learning Objective

After going through this module the learner will able to understand:

1. concept of power structure,

2. understanding of different types of power structure ,
3. knowledge about methods of power structure study
4. understanding of community power structure and its important

Dr. Sandeep Giri

 Power Structure
§ Power structures are made up of decision makers who are

largely responsible for the actions and non-actions in

Organizations at all levels.

§ Power structures are defined as the Characteristic pattern within

a community whereby resources are mobilized and sanctions

employed in making decisions (walton, 1967).

 POWER STRUCTURES Defined

u Bagin and Gallager (2001) define power

structures as “an interrelationship among
individuals with a vested interests who have the
ability or authority to control other people, to
obtain their conformity, or to command their
services.”

Dr. Sandeep Giri

 Community Power Structure
§ Community power structure refers to the distribution of
power at the local community level.

§ Thus, a community is considered an organization of units

held together through the use of power. Social science
research indicates that influential community leaders usually
control important economic and governmental positions,
resources, and decisions
 Importance of Understanding Community
Power Dynamics

In order to develop more inclusive, effective community programs, we need to know…

•Who has the authority to make community decisions.
•Who controls/influences resources.
•Who is not part of the decision making process that ought to be.
•How to build community power from both within and outside the community.
Types or Forms of Community Power Structures
The community’s power structure is the way in which those with community
power relate to each other.

v Pyramid
v Factional
v Special interest
v Coalition
v Amorphous
 Pyramid

This power structure represents only

few tightly knit
people or group hold the power who
are sitting on top of any organization,
governance and social structure.
FACTIONAL
Factional structure indicates that there are more than one group in the
community or organizational structure who are fighting or competing to
take control over on available resources or decision making.
Labor/Management
Religious Groups
Political Groups
?
SPECIAL INTEREST

Interest group form this type of

power structure where many
interest group like doctors
association, teachers association,
engineer welfare association and
trade union association etc. and
they keep trying to influence Government
descion making process of
government and their policies for
their group interest.
Coalition

This form of power structure

represent the coalition of many
groups or associations on some
common agenda that they seek
achieved by influencing decision
making process and structure.
Amorphous

It is situation when no clear leadership

or power group are found or they are
hidden this often happen during time
of transition.
 Formal and Informal Power Structures

ALL POWER STRUCTURES INCLUDING THOSE IN A COMMUNITY HAVE TWO COMPONENTS,

FORMAL AND INFORMAL.
The formal power structure is readily identifiable because mostly they are
legitimate positions or recognition and have some specific roles and authority. This
includes elected representatives, appointed government officials and leaders of civic
organizations.
An informal power structure consist of influential political leaders, industrialist,
social leaders and people who have have far greater influence on the course of a
community's development. Some time they may move in and out of the formal
power structure from but will retain their position in the informal power structure
Entry into the informal power structure is restricted and there is little turn over.
Methods of Community Power Study

q REPUTATION
q POSITIONAL
q EVENT ANALYSIS OR PARTICIPATION
THIS METHOD LOOK HISTORY OF COMMUNITY DECISION MAKING TO DETERMINE THE POWER
ACTORS WHO ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNITY ACTIONS.
 Reputational Method

In this method knowledgeable citizens are

asked to list the most influential people in the
community and find whose names are
reappear in several time in different lists .
 Positional Method

This method involve making a list of People in organizational

positions with authority to make decisions. This includes
government leaders and elected or civic leaders.

This is an easy method of identifying the formal power structure,

but it has weaknesses too.

It assumes the people in the positions actually exercise power and

fail to recognize those power actors who operate behind the
Scenes influencing these people.
 Event Analysis or Participation

This method look history of community decision making to determine

the power actors who actively participate in community actions.

The worker use include meeting minutes, press reports, and

participant interviews as source of information.
.
 Elitist Power Structure
q Elite theory is a theory of power structure argues that a small
minority, comprised of members of the economic elite, political
leader, top military and bureaucrats networks, hold the most
power.
q According to Mills, the eponymous "power elite" are those that
occupy the dominant positions, in the dominant institutions
(military, economic and political) of a dominant country, and their
decisions (or lack of decisions) have enormous consequences, not
only for the U.S. Population but, "the underlying populations of the
world.".
 PLURALIST POWER STRUCUTRE

Pluralists led by Robert Dahl have challenged the main elitist

contention that a society is marked by the existence of a single
centre of political power. They argued that in a society there are
multiple centers of political power none of which are completely
sovereign.

The decision making maybe done by few but then this decision
making cannot be understood except within the context of a
continuous bargaining process among the elites and also of a
general consensus established only through the mass approval
which is hard to secure.
 Amorphous or Inert Model

u In this structure an identifiable power structure

is absence.
u Power is either absent, or even worse.
u This type of structure usually support and
maintain the status quo that mean hardly any or
little movement toward reform activities or the
introduction of experimental programs are
initiated

Dr. Sandeep Giri

 Summary

§ Power structures are made up of decision makers who are largely

responsible for the actions and non-actions in community, organizations
and governance at all levels though mobilization and sanctions of
resources.
§ Power structure can has many forms pyramid, faction, coalition and
interest group etc.
§ Community power structure can be formal or informal.
§ Social Worker uses different method to study CPS.
§ Studying and using community power structure of community is very
important in community organization because it will affect the outcome of
community interventions.

Dr. Sandeep Giri

 Check Your Progress

u What are the methods to study power structure ? Discuss.

u Give examples of formal and informal power structure.

u Explain the characteristics of elitist power structure.

u Discuss the main assumptions of pluralist power structure.

Dr. Sandeep Giri

Bagin, D., & Gallagher (2001). The school and community relations. Boston, MA: Allyn
and Bacon.

Community power structure, Political system. (n.d.). Retrieved 30 September 2020, from
[Link]

The Power Elite. (2020). In Wikipedia.

[Link]

Walton, J. (1968). Differential Patterns of Community Power Structure: An Explanation Based

on Interdependence. The Sociological Quarterly.

Dr. Sandeep Giri

 THANK YOU

Dr. Sandeep Giri