< SUMMARY 3 > SEEING THE BALANCE OF POWER:

<< 3 GROUPS OF PEOPLE INVOLVED: >>
The balance of power can be viewed in terms of 3 groups: Your Group,
Your Adversary, and the Larger Community (all those people not yet actively
involved). Change in the balance of power will come as people from the Larger
Community come to support either your position or your Adversarys'.

<< SEEING THE POTENTIAL FOR CHANGE IN THE BALANCE OF POWER: >>
Many groups start out by taking a strong position and try to rally
supporters to their side. Forcing people to take sides at the beginning of an
issue can lead to a series of problems (see Choosing a Position: outline).
For the more successful groups the focus has been, not on how many
people you can initially rally to your side, but on how few people you push
towards your Adversary. This is important because often radical initial
positions actually activate people leaning towards your Adversary who would
not have become active except in response to your position. They did not move
towards your Adversary, they were pushed by your action.
Keep in mind that people who are not alienated by your actions are
usually willing to listen to a reasonable presentation of your concerns.
 

YOUR GROUP:
At this point your group is just setting up and may be made up of a
only few actively involved people. Don't be in a hurry to expand this group
until you're ready to deal with more people. 2 to 7 active people is a good
size for setting up a group because it is small enough to work together well
and yet still have some diversity of opinion. This small group will be all
you need to set up to get things going.

EXAMPLE: YOUR GROUP:
A number of people have talked to you about concerns they have with the
issue and given ideas, but only a handful of people are actually getting
together to make plans and decide what to do. Consider the actively involved
people possible members of your initial Core Group. All others interested,
but not actively involved, can be considered your Interest Group. These 2
groups will form the basis of your organized group later on (see Expanded
Group: outline).
 

YOUR ADVERSARY: A NARROW DEFINITION:
Your Adversary: those people actively and publicly supporting the
position that causes you concern, to the extent that they are unwilling to
consider alternatives.
NOTE: It is important to use a very narrow definition to be careful
not to define people as your Adversary when they are not. A narrow definition
would not automatically define a whole group as your Adversary.
For example, a group may `support' a position that causes you concern
when a majority (1 more than half of the group) favors the position. A large,
though minority, part of the group could have serious reservations and be
willing to listen to reasonable alternatives. These people, although part of
the group you that you `feel' is your Adversary, would not be considered
Adversaries merely because they were associated with that group. Instead, they
would be considered part of the Larger Community that is leaning strongly
towards your Adversary's position, but they might still be open to change.
 

EXAMPLE: NARROW DEFINITION OF YOUR ADVERSARY:
The County Legislature decides to site a landfill in your area. Your
initial reaction might be to consider the County Legislature as an Adversary.
This could be a mistake.
CONSIDER: How did the legislature arrive at the decision?
First it might set up a committee, appoint a commission, direct its
staff, or hire a company to draw up recommendations. The recommending group
would then set forth a plan for the Legislature to act on. Even within the
group drawing up recommendations, there may not be full agreement. When the
proposal passed the Legislature, some legislators may have voted against it or
abstained, even those who voted yes may have had reservations. Only those
people in any of these groups involved in the process who actively and
publicly support the plan and are unwilling to consider any adjustments or
alternatives would be considered your Adversary. Most County Legislators
would be sensitive to public opinion and would not be considered Adversaries
unless they clearly demonstrated themselves to be totally inflexible.
 
 

WHEN DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY AN ADVERSARY: WORK WITH YOUR GOVERNMENT:
In some issues, where it may be difficult to identify an Adversary,
you can work with your government (Decision Makers) to raise your concerns.
For example, during hard economic times with many people unemployed
taxpayers groups may form to address the problem of high taxes to support
those unemployed. Although some people may initially feel that the unemployed
people are their Adversary, a careful look at the situation would reveal that
economic conditions lead to the unemployment problem. Since unemployed people
are not in a position to change the economic conditions that lead to their
unemployment, taxpayers groups could begin by working to raise their concerns
with their government. For example, could action be taken by government to
address the fundamental economic problems that cause both unemployment and
high taxes? (ie: Is unfair foreign competition undercutting domestic jobs?)
Could those receiving extended unemployment benefits be providing needed
services to the community through job programs? Both the taxpayers and the
unemployed have the same fundamental concerns: effective use of public
resources and improved work opportunities. The taxpayers groups and the
unemployed could join together to work with their Government (Decision Makers)
to take action.
 

THE LARGER COMMUNITY:
The final group to be considered is by far the largest because it
includes everyone not in your group or your Adversary's. The Larger
Community, in a democratic society, is also the most powerful both in terms of
resources and political power. It has a potential to influence the situation
to a major degree. Depending largely how you act, this group can move towards
Your Group, towards Your Adversary, or remain uninvolved. It would be a
critical mistake to underestimate the potential impact of this group and their
ability to bring, even indirect, pressure to bear on the situation. Be
mindful of your influence on the Larger Community because every move you make
has an effect. This is especially important in the beginning when you set up
and take a position.

THE LARGER COMMUNITY: PEOPLE LEANING TOWARDS YOU OR YOUR ADVERSARY:
There is a natural tendency for certain people to lean towards either
your position or your Adversary's. These people, while part of the Larger
Community, may begin to move in the direction that they are leaning, early on,
and therefore require special consideration.
 

PEOPLE LEANING TOWARDS YOUR GROUP:
There are people with a natural tendency through background, past
experience, or common interest to move towards your group. In general, people
leaning towards your group will move towards you on their own. At this point,
before you're set up, you do not want to encourage this movement because you
are not yet organized to handle more people. You can view these people as a
reserve waiting to be drawn into your group as they are needed.

PEOPLE LEANING TOWARDS YOUR ADVERSARY:
Through circumstances, past association, or perceived common interest,
these people have a tendency to move towards your Adversary's position. This
group will be the most sensitive to any of your actions. Because it won't take
much to push them towards your Adversary, this group needs to be studied in
more detail.
 

PEOPLE LEANING TOWARDS YOUR ADVERSARY: KEY GROUP:
The change in the balance of power will come as people from the Larger
Community begin to move to support your position or your Adversary's. Under
no circumstances is it in your interest to add support to your Adversary.
Unlike people leaning towards you, who will tend to move towards you
almost no matter what you do, the group leaning towards your Adversary will
need special attention. What they decide to do depends to a large degree on
what initial position you decide to take. Since this group is very sensitive
and likely to move first, you would be wise to review all your proposed
actions so as not to give reason for these people to move towards your
Adversary. If you act carefully, especially in forming an initial position,
many of these people may remain part of the Larger Community and not take an
active part in supporting your Adversary's position. If you are especially
careful to be aware of their point of view, you may even succeed in having
them consider your position.
 

EXAMPLE: PEOPLE LEANING TOWARDS YOUR ADVERSARY:
A military low altitude flight path was proposed for a rural area.
The problem, from the point of view of group organization, was that, being a
rural area, many people found educational and training opportunities by
joining the military. Almost every family had relatives who had been in the
military and many considered themselves strong military supporters.
A group formed to address the issue and, being sensitive to the
situation, decided to make it clear that their group was not against the
military. They also decided not to take a position against the flight path
because that could have pushed people into supporting their Adversary.
Instead they chose to raise concerns and present well documented evidence
about possible adverse effects of the flights on people in the flight path.
This approach allowed the group to work together with people who may have
been initially leaning towards their Adversary but had concern for effects of
the flights.
 

< SUMMARY 3 > SEEING THE BALANCE OF POWER:

<< 3 GROUPS OF PEOPLE INVOLVED: >>
The balance of power can be viewed in terms of 3 groups: Your Group,
Your Adversary, and the Larger Community (all those people not yet actively
involved). Change in the balance of power will come as people from the Larger
Community come to support either your position or your Adversarys'.

<< SEEING THE POTENTIAL FOR CHANGE IN THE BALANCE OF POWER: >>
Many groups start out by taking a strong position and try to rally
supporters to their side. Forcing people to take sides at the beginning of an
issue can lead to a series of problems (see Choosing a Position: outline).
For the more successful groups the focus has been, not on how many
people you can initially rally to your side, but on how few people you push
towards your Adversary. This is important because often radical initial
positions actually activate people leaning towards your Adversary who would
not have become active except in response to your position. They did not move
towards your Adversary, they were pushed by your action.
Keep in mind that people who are not alienated by your actions are
usually willing to listen to a reasonable presentation of your concerns.

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