Imagine – who is in power in a city? Who is involved in the decisions which affect the lives of large numbers of residents? The Council Leader and Cabinet and the Council’s Chief Executive and senior managers; the Police Commissioner, Chief Constable and some of their deputies; senior people in CCGs and in NHS Trusts; business leaders and developers, leading entrepreneurs and bankers and large employers; senior faith leaders and a few people involved in running large charities, trades unions, social landlords, universities and other city institutions.
Academic studies of power usually conclude that, at most, a few hundred people are involved in the highest level decisions in a city. (Prof Ken Newton in Second City Politics: Democratic Process and Decision Making in Birmingham, published in 1976, gave an insightful and entertaining account of power and relationships between political and non-political groups and individuals in 1970s Birmingham – well worth reading!) Where researchers disagree with each other is whether the group of people who are ‘in power’ form a self-serving community, or ‘power elite’; or whether the people in power come from different communities and serve plural, different interests. Whether you take an ‘elitist’ or a ‘pluralist’ point of view, it seems however, the number of people directly involved in making policy affecting the whole city is small; and the likelihood that they know each other is high.
If these people, numbering maybe a few hundred, are ‘in power’, then who is ‘one step from power’? The assistants and deputies, the general managers, the political opposition, influential journalists, academics, senior advisors, most established councillors and, of course, the families and close friends and associates of those in power. If you are one step from power you are part of a wider group – maybe up to 5,000 people in a city the size of Birmingham who know someone who is in power or who has a serious chance of being in power soon themselves.
Beyond these few thousand, is a much larger group of people they know and who can influence them. Most local leaders – if they aren’t in the previous two groups are in this one. Maybe 50,000 citizens are part of this group – they ‘know someone who knows someone’ at the top. They include many business people and professionals – doctors, lawyers, headteachers, accountants – journalists, top ‘bloggers’ and people who work in creative and knowledge industries, people who are very active and/or hold positions within faith communities, charities and societies. Although this group makes up about 5% of the city’s population, they aren’t equally spread – some neighbourhoods have a lot of them, some neighbourhoods probably have very few or none.
Most of a city’s residents are probably in the next group – ‘three steps from power’. If you are a member of any clubs or societies, an active member of a church, mosque or gurdwara, or if you are employed on a permanent contract, a member of a trade union or run a small business, or know someone two steps from power and you aren’t in one of the previous groups, you will be in this group. Being three steps from power means you know how to influence decisions if you need to; you are registered to vote; you can get your voice heard when you need to; you can find your way round forms and understand in principle how the law works. You can get hold of a local leader if you need to!
Then there’s everyone else – probably 40% of citizens in a city like Birmingham – who is more than three steps from power. They can’t, or don’t, vote. They probably aren’t employed in steady jobs and most don’t have many qualifications. They aren’t members of any societies or associations which enable them to ‘network’ even if they wanted to. And they can’t easily influence local decisions. Many are young people. Quite a few are elderly. They include newcomers and transient communities – students as well as refugees and migrants. Many disabled people, homeless people and the much larger number of people who aren’t homeless but don’t live in very secure accommodation are in this group. Those who are employed, work part-time or on zero-hours contracts and in low paid jobs. Physical and mental ill-health frequently puts people into this group. Crime – either as a perpetrator, or a victim – is another route into this group. Sometimes there are language or cultural barriers affecting people who are more than three steps to power: women in some communities, isolated older people in other communities are probably disproportionately in this excluded group. Despite – or maybe because – of the disadvantages they face, people in this group include the most original thinkers and the most resourceful ‘do-ers’ in the city.
Here’s the question: would an economically successful, socially dynamic and environmentally sustainable city have a higher, or lower, proportion of its people more than three steps from power?
Given the purpose of the Council is to increase the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the place it serves (which is what the law says it must be), should a local authority be seeking to make more of its citizens at most ‘3 steps from power’? What can local leaders, who are one or two steps from power, do to improve the ratio?
What might be the economic, social and environmental benefits for your neighbourhood of having local leaders who make connections and enable more people to take part?
What Would You like to do Now?
Look back at the differences between conversation and consultation
Think about when and where community conversation happens
Head back to the summary for this section on Community Dialogue
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