POLITICAL CAPITAL
In Neighborhoods & Communities
Chapter 5
Flora, Flora and Fey
Betting Lines
The race is not always to the swift, or
the battle to the strong, but that is the
way to bet. Damon Runyon
Never attribute to malice
that which can be
adequately explained
by stupidity Nick Diamos
Why Discuss This as Planners or
Design/Builders?

It is neither wise nor practical to work with a
community, either at the macro or micro scale,
unless you know
–
–
–
–
–
Who runs things
Who you can work with; who you should avoid
What pushes this community’s button
Where decisions are make
When do things happen
RULE # 1 – Never, never let them see you sweat
Top Ten Dumbest Political Quotes
of the Year
I think that gay marriage should be between
a man and a woman." —Arnold
Schwarzenegger, during the California recall
campaign
The Golden Rule
Its all about politics:
Ideas are great arrows, but there has to be a bow. And politics is the bow of
idealism. Bill Moyers
To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put
the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in
order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts
right. Confucius
The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have
demonstrated time and again that they have the management skills of
celery. They're the kind of people who'd stop to help you change a flat, but
would somehow manage to set your car on fire. I would be reluctant to
entrust them with a Cuisinart, let alone the economy. The Republicans, on
the other hand, would know how to fix your tire, but they wouldn't bother to
stop because they'd want to be on time for Ugly Pants Night at the country
club. Dave Berry
Basic Definitions
Political/Politics
The art of the possible
 The process of who gets what, where and when

Political Capital
Organization, connections, voice & power
 The ability of a group to influence the allocation
of resources and benefits with the community

Powerspeak – The language of
local politics
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
All politics is local
Follow the money
Just ask who benefits
The two faces of power
Dance with the one the brought you
(power is not born – it is created)
The stink of power lingers long after the
title is extinguished
The Voice of Power
Models of Community Power

Sectorial or Methods Models
1. Those in official positions in each sector of
the community have predominant influence
or power
2. People throughout the community are well
aware of who has power
3. Power is transferred from persons to person
over the years with different elections and
circumstances
Community Power Models

Elitist or Reputation Models
1. A small, close knit group of individuals has power
and they agree on major issues
2. They hang together against opposition & change
3. There main source of power is in being able to
influence decision makers and create a status quo
4. Their characteristics are diverse and do not
necessarily represent any one social or economic
class – (however, that is not the way to bet).
5. They can impose extreme sanctions on reformists
Community Power Models

The Pluralists
1. Life is hell and people grab power because they get
in line first and use their characteristics to demand
allegiance
2. They disagree on major issues and must build
coalitions
3. Coalitions change frequently
4. People perceive that a great many are involved in
community decision making
5. Some people have more/different skills and are
more effective than others in some areas
Community Power Models

The Growth Machine
1. There is a close knit group of people – bankers,
owners, merchants, developers, realtors, insurance
who influence community decision making; in short,
those that receive their main income from property
2. They have different politics, but they are close knit
when it comes to the creation of wealth
3. They are the chief supporters for initiatives for town
growth; they are what we call the stakeholders
4. In some cases they can be restrained from making
some decisions if they perceive highly negative
public reaction
The Models
Growth
Machine
ELITIST MODEL
Pluralist
Model
Sectors
Overview of One Model

C Wright Mills – “The Power Elite”
– The Power Elite is a coalition of government
officials, business executives, military leaders,
industrialists, and very wealthy that run the
system
– The Atlanta reputation method
Social and class
stratification
Counter Theory

Polyarchy (not Oligarchy)
– Robert Dahl and others disdain the elite
models
– Power holders are fluid and contentious
– Battles between social conservatives,
moderates, liberals, environmentalists, and
traditionalist
– Is this system, the mediators and bridgers
gain a great deal of power
Another Counter Theory

Local Politics – You Can Crash As Fast As You
Rise
1. Those that do not take ownership in a community
are powerless
2. Democracy assures that a people get what they
deserve
3. The more you have at stake, the more you want to
influence control over others – who backed the
American Revolution?
4. Power is not always to the wealthy, well educated,
the best looking, and the most socially successful;
power is often to the ugly, the crass, the bully, the
prophet and those that have “found Jesus’
Power Is Not Always To the
Wealthy and Good Looking
Where Does This Leave the Small
Town/City?
Political style and model is highly size and place
dependent; political capital, like financial capital, is a
cumulative resource
 In the typical local town, power is exercised in the form
of “slack”
 Slack is a form of opportunity that occurs when two or
more groups in contention for policy cancel each other
out and allow the less-likely to operator in the power
vacuum – or when no one wants to float that particular
boat
 Classically, small town power is a clash between a
growth machine and an anti-growth collation

Issues in the Clash
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Keeping wages low
No growth versus growth economy
No tax or spending increases
Town beautification
Local regulations
Economic development
And the battle over whether or not to
allow aliens safe haven in the
community
The General Conclusion
We do not vote for the people who actually run our
communities
Parting Shots
George Bush was not elected by a
majority of the voters in the United
States. He was appointed by God." —
Lt. Gen. William Boykin, the defense
undersecretary in charge of hunting
down top terrorists in Iraq and
Afghanistan
"My vision is to make the most diverse state
on earth, and we have people from every
planet on the earth in this state. We have the
sons and daughters of every, of people from
every planet, of every country on earth." —
Former California Gov. Gray Davis, during the
recall campaign
"Reports that say that something
hasn't happened are always
interesting to me, because as we
know, there are known knowns;
there are things we know we
know. We also know there are
known unknowns; that is to say
we know there are some things we
do not know. But there are also
unknown unknowns — the ones
we don't know we don't know." —
Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld
Simple Local Politics