Grassroots coalitions are one mechanism by which marginalized groups access the policy arena. Such alliances integrate group interests in demand making and can influence the policy process through collective action. Understanding what factors lead to formation, sustainability, and success can explain how and why alliances function as political intermediaries. This paper features one national social change organization that collaborates with local grassroots groups working on three federal policy priorities: immigration, retirement security, and economic justice. It investigates what organizational structures and processes increase the access of local organizations to policymakers through multi-organizational alliances of 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations. Based on field observations and 58 interviews, the case analysis focuses on inter-organizational partnerships, intra-organizational development, and how these organizational arrangements facilitate grassroots engagement in the policy process. Factors found to impact the strength of alliances include alignment of interests and strategies; an ability to leverage heterogeneous relationships and resources; mutuality, trust, and respect in partnership; political capacity; and “bottom-up” pathways to participation for grassroots constituencies. These findings are central to understanding the structure, function, and political effectiveness of contemporary national-to-local partnerships.
Intermediary organizations play an essential role in the policymaking process. With activities ranging from public protests to research reports, external groups engage the policy process using diverse strategies for action. They aim to influence policy outcomes, and do so to varying degrees of success. Multi-organizational alliances are one mechanism by which traditionally marginalized groups access the policy arena.
As external actors, such alliances attempt to influence policy decisions through collective action: they aggregate group interests into demand-making strategies, mobilize shared resources, leverage collective organizational capacity, and garner political will for the changes they want. Policy outcomes vary widely among such efforts, and are also a function of contextual factors in the policy environment. To understand the effectiveness of such organizations one must not only consider policy success or failure but also other forms of influence such as agenda setting, mobilization of interests, constituent representation and voice, public credibility, and the influence of action on legislators’ voting records.
This paper explores the question: how do multi-organizational alliances increase the access of grassroots organizations to the federal policy process? It utilizes the case example of a national intermediary organization to build on existing theory about the organizational structures and processes that promote effective alliances for engagement in the policy process. Much of the community organizing scholarship focuses on local and state action with a particular emphasis on impact. Less attention has been paid to how organizational structures and processes can influence and sustain large-scale demand-making strategies. Understanding what organizational factors lead to partnership formation, sustainability, and success in the policy process can explain how and why multi-organizational alliances function as intermediaries of democratic inclusion, particularly between national and local organizations (Andersen and Cohen 2005; Van Dyke and McCammon 2010).
A range of social science scholarship examines how external actors organize themselves for collective action in the policymaking process. The notable “Advocacy Coalition Framework” developed by Jenkins-Smith and Sabatier (1993) sets forth much debated theoretical constructs for testing assumptions about how coalitions form, how they are structured over time and under what conditions, and how they relate within the complex ecosystem of the policy arena (Sabatier and Weible 2007; Weible et al. 2011). Another strand of scholarship situates the study of multi-organizational alliances (both informal inter-organizational networks and formal coalitions) in relationship to social movement literature (Andrews and Edwards 2004; Diani and Bison 2004; Jones et al. 2001; Van Dyke and McCammon 2010). For example, Van Dyke and McCammon (2010) explore how social ties, interests, identities, ideologies, and political context interact within the formation and maintenance of social movement coalitions. Dixon et al. (2013) look specifically at coalition fit and long-term effectiveness of labor partners within a given movement. They suggest that issues of compatibility and power relationships merit further investigation. Mizrahi and Rosenthal (2001), Roberts-DeGennaro and Mizrahi (2005), and Levi and Murphy (2006) frame multi-organizational alliances within a context of demand making for social change, emphasizing their strategic position to leverage organizational resources and affect outcomes. The field of public health also offers insight about the effectiveness of community-based coalitions for service delivery and the improvement of health outcomes. This literature highlights the practices of pooling diverse resources for collective impact, the necessity of trust and collaboration in partnerships, and the contextual factors that influence coalition formation and maintenance (Foster-Fishman et al. 2001; Kegler et al. 2010; Zakocs and Edwards 2006).
Three themes drawn from this literature are relevant to an analysis of multi-organizational alliances. First, inter-organizational partnerships can be investigated as a type of institutional arrangement used for social and political change (Andrews and Edwards 2004; Baumgartner et al. 2009). These partnerships are built on complex relationships, maintained by specific structures and processes of communication, negotiation, and collective action, and sustained through dynamics of trust, mutuality, and collaboration (Hojnacki 1998; Levi and Murphy 2006; Mizrahi and Rosenthal 2001; Reynolds 2004; Tattersall 2010; Tattersall and Reynolds 2007). Any study of such partnerships must include an analysis of these dimensions. Second, in order to understand the durability of multi-organizational alliances as intermediaries, the political capacity of individual organizations requires attention (Post 2011; Raynor 2011). Participation in an alliance can yield positive and negative outcomes for individual member organizations: alignment with others around a shared agenda can clarify mission and internal goals; staff or members may develop new skills for a particular strategy or set of tasks; new resources from the partnership may yield greater capacity for effectiveness over time (Andrews and Edwards 2004; Ganz 2000; Hojnacki 1998; Hojnacki et al. 2012; Roberts-DeGennaro and Mizrahi 2005). Alternatively, partnerships can deplete the resources and capacities of individual organizations, such as when goals and expectations are unclear or when the self-interest of one entity dominates others (Beamish and Luebbers 2009; Huxham and Vangen 2000; Walker and McCarthy 2010).
Third, the extent to which an alliance can influence change ultimately determines its ability to make claims effectively within the policy arena (see, for example, Gleeson 2013; Tattersall 2010). Indicators of influence include different types of outcomes. Much of the literature conceives of policy adoption as the primary benchmark of success. Intermediate outcomes of influence and effectiveness are also relevant, including the ability to build strong coalitions, active participation in agenda setting and legislative drafting, perceived credibility among peer organizations, policymakers, and other actors, and a demonstrated presence at legislative hearings and other public forums (Andrews and Edwards 2004; Hojnacki 1998; Jones et al. 2001; Raynor 2011; Tattersall 2010; Zakocs and Edwards 2006). [1]
This three-prong theoretical framing – inter-organizational partnerships, the intra-organizational development of new skills and capacities, and demand-making success – is one analytic model for understanding the formation and sustainability of multi-organizational alliances and the role of such alliances as political intermediaries (Post 2011). Because of its focus on organizational processes and structures, this framework is useful for investigating how and why intermediary organizations are able to mediate the interests of local communities as well as garner the political will and grassroots capacity for engagement in the policy process.
The case example presented in this paper is based on findings from an evaluation study that investigated how one organization – the Center for Community Change (CCC) – develops and sustains the political capacity of local and state organizations to influence the policymaking process. A central aim of the project was to understand how and why the organization strengthens the infrastructure of the progressive movement through its approach to grassroots organizing, collaboration, and policy advocacy. A secondary benefit was its considerable application to theories of organizational effectiveness and influence in the policymaking process. Therefore, the Center is a useful example from which lessons can be drawn about the organizational structures and processes that facilitate the engagement of traditionally marginalized groups in politics. The combination of case description with organizational analysis aims to provide a theoretical and practical understanding of what processes produce stronger engagement in policymaking (Eisenhardt and Graebner 2007; George and Bennett 2005; Sigglekow 2007).
The study was developed in collaboration with the organization’s senior leadership to examine its practices of alliance building, organizational development, and political action with grassroots partners and across policy coalitions. [2] It was designed using participatory methods in order to yield findings and practical recommendations for the Center’s board members, staff, and funders (Brown 2001; McIntyre 2008; Ragin 1994). This approach was intended to enhance organizational learning for improvement. It also was expected to provide a replicable analytic framework for gathering data, understanding impact, and improving practice (Creswell 2013). Therefore, the design was broad in scope and exploratory in nature. It also clarified themes that necessitate further systematic investigation of multi-organizational alliances.
The case draws from multiple data sources, including interviews, participatory field observation, meeting notes, and review of secondary documents. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from October 2011 through May 2012. Field observations were conducted in four locations and in several organizational contexts, including two training and campaign strategy sessions, a mid-size convening of local and state partner groups, and a large annual coalition meeting of local, state, and national partner organizations. In total, 58 interviews were conducted with field partners, national allies, and staff members. Respondents were assured of confidentiality and no direct quotations are attributed to any person or organization.
Senior staff members were consulted throughout the research process, including the design of methods, revision of interview protocols, plans for field observations, and the analysis of data. For example, a preliminary list of analytic categories was identified with staff members and based on the organization’s strategic goals. These categories guided the initial analysis of interview data and field notes. Staff members then participated in a facilitated discussion analyzing the preliminary interview findings. This analysis was reported internally, employing a thematic review of interview and field notes, secondary documents, and responses from the collective analysis. In addition, a summary document was prepared for wider dissemination to stakeholders, and a facilitated conference call was conducted to share results with respondents and discuss the implications of the findings.
Robustness (strengths and weaknesses) of strategic alliancesCollective action techniques and approaches that increase capacity for impact in the policymaking process
Practices that add value to inter-organizational partnerships and intra-organizational development Organizational sustainabilityThese ideas informed how impact was conceptualized in the analysis. Indicators of impact and influence focus on organizational effectiveness. It was evident in the emergent categories that achieving policy wins is an outcome of significant value. Evidence of strong inter-organizational partnerships, new organizational capacity, engaged diverse constituencies, and organizational sustainability also surfaced as important indicators. Therefore, this paper explains the findings in a context of organizational structure and function so that it can illustrate the strengths and challenges of intermediaries as an organizational form and the effectiveness of alliance building as a strategy for policy engagement.
The limitations of the study include self-reported anecdotes and perceptions in the interview data. To account for these limitations, multiple data sources were used to verify and strengthen the description and to triangulate respondents’ impressions and opinions of events. Each interview was placed within an organizational and policy context and matched across field observations and interviews to identify common themes. Additionally, research collaborators at the Center were consulted for accuracy. With the analytic categories identified and defined through a participatory and inductive process, future data collection can employ surveys and assessment tools that measure the impact of particular organizational features on national-to-local partnerships. These factors also can be used to test organizational theories of change and assumptions about the impact of multi-organizational alliances on policy change. In this way, the study has application in both theory and practice.
The CCC is a national nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) that has worked for over 45 years to build the power and civic capacity of low-income communities, especially low-income communities of color. Its primary organizational strategies have been to connect and strengthen grassroots community organizations, to cultivate leadership among staff and constituencies in these organizations, to provide technical assistance for organizational development, and to mobilize groups for civic engagement and political action. Since its founding in 1968, CCC has partnered with local, state, and national organizations to achieve change on key social and economic issues.
In 2003, CCC established a 501(c)(4) sister organization – the Center for Community Change Action (CCCAction) [3] – to advance its advocacy and grassroots organizing strategies. CCC and CCCAction (“the Center”) are a hybrid organization with distinct functions. This is a common structure for national intermediary organizations active in the federal policy arena. By establishing a 501(c)(4) organization, the Center expanded its voter engagement and policy advocacy priorities to include direct electoral and legislative action. Central to its mission, the Center engages grassroots constituencies in national issues, leveraging relationships with local organizations for large-scale policy change. In addition to collaborative work with local organizations, the Center also partners with national nonprofit organizations and labor unions for policy change initiatives. Over the last 10 years the Center has taken on national campaigns with coalition partners, including health-care access, jobs and employment, retirement security, and immigration reform. The Center is one of many organizations working on these issues, yet it acts as a boundary spanner between the field of local grassroots organizations and the national policy environment.
The Center is positioned within the progressive movement as a national intermediary with a track record of partnering with community-based, nonprofit organizations to run local, state, and national policy campaigns. Typically, the Center will form alliances with other organizations because of a shared agenda, complementary expertise in a given issue area, or the ability to connect with grassroots groups most affected by national policy issues. With national allies, like the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Gamaliel, a large community organizing network, partnerships enable the groups to leverage broader collective power across constituencies and geographies. By combining efforts, such heterogeneous alliances maximize partners’ strengths and resources and are geared toward greater influence in policy making.
Materials and background information on policy issues In-person staff support for strategy development Coaching on communications, fundraising, and online technologies for voter engagement and outreach Training support for leadership development and “movement building” Support for the development of 501(c)(4) organization and activitiesThe Center works with local and state organizations to anchor grassroots organizing and policy advocacy campaigns within a national context. The relationship between the Center and its partners is intended to be symbiotic, orienting local work toward a national strategy. Field partners recognize that a relationship with the Center enables them to have greater impact. From the Center’s perspective, field relationships are the vehicle by which the organization can connect to its core constituencies of low-income people and communities of color. The Center uses in-person convenings as one tool for leveraging and supporting these alliances. As a convener, the Center aims to garner trust among partners and to support lasting infrastructures that yield greater capacity for political action and change. These sessions typically include organizations working on similar issues like retirement security or economic justice to share information, to learn about each other’s strategies and practices, and to collaborate on joint advocacy initiatives. For example, within the immigrant rights movement, the Center has served as a hub of information, resources, and communications’ expertise and has contributed staff members and significant funding to the campaigns.
Comprehensive immigration reform has been one of the Center’s main policy priorities for over a decade. In 2004, the Center launched and currently staffs and convenes a prominent national coalition for immigrant rights, the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM). In this role, the Center has collaborated with field partners in 30 states as well as national allies to build grassroots leadership, mobilize organizations, and sustain the movement amidst a divisive, anti-immigrant political environment. The Center supports and trains FIRM organizers, has raised substantial funding from diverse grant makers, and, with other member of the executive committee, is responsible for providing the coalition’s strategic vision and leadership.
FIRM has built a wide and deep infrastructure for the immigrant rights movement through grassroots training, organizational development, and the political mobilization of immigrants and their allies. Since its inception, it has stimulated momentum towards policy change with public actions and legislative lobbying across the United States. Together with labors’ unions like SEIU, and other immigrant advocacy groups, such as the National Immigration Forum and United We Dream, FIRM has activated public pressure on federal leaders, including the president, to enact comprehensive immigration reform.
For example, between 2011 and 2012, significant administrative changes were achieved for “The Dreamers,” young undocumented immigrants who came to the United States with their families as children. During this time period, FIRM, in partnership with local organizations and other national allies, successfully pressured President Obama to take administrative action in favor of “The Dreamers” by deferring legal action for undocumented childhood arrivals. [4] The FIRM coalition was relentless in its organizing and activism, regularly engaging in advocacy and civil disobedience. In collaboration with other national labor, faith, and community organizations, the coalition held demonstrations at Congressional offices and on the National Mall that brought together thousands of immigrant families and their allies. A hard-hitting communications strategy was used to reframe the public debate to focus on the contributions of young immigrants, the impact of deportations that separated mixed-status families, and the failings of congressional leaders and the President. In addition, FIRM leaders, including the Center’s executive director, Deepak Bhargava, were involved in tense meetings with President Obama at the White House (Wallsten 2012). In spite of continued Congressional gridlock, the DACA decision was viewed as a major advance for the immigrant rights movement toward the possibility of comprehensive immigration reform. [5]
In addition to its national coalition work, the Center and FIRM partners have supported the development of new state-based immigrant rights organizations, especially in states that have contended with severely anti-immigrant state legislation. Promise Arizona (PAZ) is one example.
PAZ aims to recruit, train, and develop leaders for political action that will improve the lives of immigrants and their families. [6] In the wake of Arizona Senate bill, SB1070 (April 2010), long-time organizer, Petra Falcon, and other local immigrant rights activists mobilized a 103-day vigil that galvanized the formation of PAZ. SB1070 and its companion bill, HB 2162, are among the strictest and most controversial anti-immigrant policies in the nation (Morse 2011).
Young people fueled the vigil and ultimately, the development of the organization that would become a vehicle for training leaders in civic engagement, legislative advocacy, and electoral organizing. PAZ was a special project of the Center that served as its fiscal sponsor until 2014. The Center made a long-term commitment to building Arizona’s organizing infrastructure for the immigrant rights movement. It invested time, money, and staff in Arizona in order to grow PAZ’s resources for leadership development and political action, especially the ongoing fight against the provisions of SB1070. [7] PAZ also worked closely with the New Organizing Institute to expand its voter engagement strategies and leadership development training approach called “movement building.” The collaborative partnership between all three organizations sustained PAZ through its early years of development.
The Center was especially valuable in supporting PAZ’s organizational development. Of particular benefits were (1) the engagement of the Center’s senior staff in developing strategic direction; (2) mentoring and coaching PAZ staff and members; (3) supporting the organization’s communications, training, and fundraising; and (4) focusing on issues of organizational sustainability. This support enabled PAZ to have successful campaigns and to grow as an organization in the midst of a volatile political environment. The Center also helped to build PAZ’s 501(c)(4) political action organization and to position it within the national immigrant rights movement and among national funders.
The PAZ infrastructure creates a space in which young people develop hands-on civic and electoral experience, and, in turn, impact issues that matter to them through grassroots organizing. The vigil, voter registration drives, legislative advocacy, the defeat of state Senator Russell Pearce, and voter mobilization strategies indicate that PAZ is changing the anti-immigrant political landscape of Arizona. PAZ also has become a leader in the FIRM network. They participate in the coalition’s executive committee and consistently bring members to rallies and demonstrations in Washington, DC. This is one of many examples of how the Center has built a successful alliance with a local organization for national impact.
As the fight for comprehensive immigration reform continued in 2012, the Center targeted two other policy issues: retirement security and jobs and the economy. Similar to partnerships with grassroots’ immigrant organizations like PAZ, these partnerships were aimed at supporting local organizations in their effort to influence state and federal policy. Across diverse geographies, organizations received subgrants to support local organizing campaigns. Typically, the organizations funded new or existing staff positions. They focused on the recruitment, training, and retention of local members to engage in advocacy and direct action. Some organizations’ grants were supplemented with technical assistance for online communications or specialized leadership development programs like movement building.
The retirement security project included coalition building with national allies (Social Security Works) and establishing a network of local organizations that could influence members of Congress to oppose cuts in social security, Medicare, and Medicaid. A main dimension of their strategy was attempting to shift the debate among lawmakers in key states like Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Virginia. In these states, the Center supported organizations to develop relationships with legislators as a way of infusing grassroots interests into debates about retirement security policies. Through public testimony and media outreach, the Center and its partners elevated the stories of individuals impacted by program cuts. Using policy education, legislative advocacy, and direct action (like rallies and public disruption), organizations interacted regularly with members of Congress who could support and champion the protection of social security, Medicare, and Medicaid. This process engaged people directly affected by the issue – low-income seniors, women, and people of color – in the policy process. The Center’s work during this time period ultimately led to the launch of Grassroots Ambassadors, a leadership training program for local activists that expanded the national infrastructure of community-based organizations working to improve retirement security policies.
The Center’s work on jobs and the economy was smaller in scale than its retirement security and immigration programs from 2011 to 2012, yet it laid the foundation for the organization’s major initiative of the next decade. In the wake of the financial crisis, the Center wanted to develop an agenda to advance economic security for low- and middle-income workers. With a focus on jobs, unemployment, and wages, the Center explored campaign opportunities that could address the long-term effects of the economic downturn. Much of this investment revolved around identifying innovations in grassroots action for policy change at the state and local level. [8] For example, CCC supported multi-sector coalitions of faith, labor, and community organizations that attempted to influence the outcomes of policy fights around state budgets (Montana) and collective bargaining rights (Ohio). [9] The Center also collaborated with national allies such as MoveOn.org and SEIU to target federal policy issues, including public sector job creation, tax cuts, dwindling supports for low-income families, and cuts to retirement security.
Assessing national opportunities to advance a jobs agenda, building alliances with national allies around shared policy priorities, and learning from innovations in grassroots organizing were the groundwork for the Center’s new economic justice initiative, launched in 2013. Simultaneous to this exploration, the organization went through an intense internal visioning process. Together with the staff and board of directors, the Center identified a new strategic direction and articulated its long-term goals by aligning policy priorities with appropriate staffing configurations, funding streams, and internal resources necessary for supporting such a vision. The Center was poised at the end of 2012 to carry out its vision of building “scale with soul” so that everyone has “enough to thrive.”
The focus of the last decade, particularly on immigration reform, has positioned the Center as a credible national intermediary organization in the eyes of its local partners and allies. With major support from the JPB Foundation, the Center now supports an initiative to improve low-wage work, create “good” jobs, and eliminate barriers to employment for formerly incarcerated people. Much of this ambitious work supports local collaborations. However, it is aimed at mobilizing national policy breakthroughs that advance economic justice for low-income people. As a result, the Center continues to convene local and national groups around a common agenda. The Center has also undergone internal re-organization – recruiting new staff expertise, reorienting program teams to fit long-term goals, and developing greater financial sustainability. By raising the salience of poverty and coordinating a national policy effort rooted in grassroots constituencies, the Center strives to ensure that low-income people are central to the debate about how to improve work, create jobs, and catalyze greater economic security.
Because of the Center’s long history, depth of experience across policy domains, and diverse relationships with grassroots partners, this case informs both theory and practice about the necessary mechanisms for successful alliances. It illustrates how mutually beneficial partnerships, coalition alignment, political capacity, and leadership development are significant characteristics that contribute to effective grassroots engagement in the policy process. Understanding these factors sheds light on how local-to-national alliances can increase access to the policy arena and the role of intermediary organizations in such a process. Therefore, this discussion focuses on how the Center’s position as a national intermediary facilitates greater participation of local grassroots organizations in the policy process. Sustainability and challenges associated with organizational form are also considered (see Table 1 for summary of findings). [10]