Power in and over Cross-Sector Partnerships: Actor Strategies for Shaping Collective Decisions

Abstract

Abstract:While cross-sector partnerships are sometimes depicted as a pragmatic problem solving arrangements devoid of politics and power, they are often characterized by power dynamics. Asymmetries in power can have a range of undesirable consequences as low-power actors may be co-opted, ignored, over-ruled, or excluded by dominant parties. As of yet, there has been relatively little conceptual work on the power strategies that actors in cross-sector partnerships deploy to shape collective decisions to their own advantage. Insights from across the literatures on multiparty collaboration, cross-sector partnerships, interactive governance, collaborative governance, and network governance, are integrated into a theoretical framework for empirically analyzing power sources (resources, discursive legitimacy, authority) and power strategies (power over and power in cross-sector partnerships). Three inter-related claims are central to our argument: (1) the intersection between the issue field addressed in the partnership and an actor's institutional field shape the power sources available to an actor; (2) an actor can mobilize these power sources directly in strategies to achieve power in cross-sector partnerships; and, (3) an actor can also mobilize these power sources indirectly, through setting the rules of the game, to achieve power over partnerships. The framework analytically connects power dynamics to their broader institutional setting and allows for spelling out how sources of power are used in direct and indirect power strategies that steer the course of cross-sector partnerships. The resulting conceptual framework provides the groundwork for pursuing new lines of empirical inquiry into power dynamics in cross-sector partnerships.

Collaboration: what does it really mean?

“…When actors bring power dynamics grounded in their relative social, economic, and organizational status in other contexts into collaborative action (Sabatier & Jenkins-Smith, 1999), the fundamental characteristics of collaboration are undermined to one degree or another. Different ways of working together tend to exhibit particular forms of power: cooperative power can be used to further self-interest, while coordinative power often draws on force, coercion, and the ability to control the discourse, process, and solutions (Dewulf & Elbers, 2018). By contrast, collaborators exercise shared power (Gray, 1994).…”

Are partnerships in nonprofit organizations being governed for sustainability? A partnering life cycle assessment

“…Bitzer and Glasbergen [ 80 ] argued, however, that partners tend to differ in terms of their control over resources when their interests are diverse. Power dynamics can have a range of unsatisfactory consequences, as low-power actors may be ignored, overruled, co-opted, or excluded by dominant actors [ 81 ]. However, there is no understanding as of yet about the practices, mechanisms, and strategies through which power asymmetries are addressed [ 82 ].…”

The Dynamics of Interorganizational Collaborative Relationships: Introduction

“…The theoretical contribution by Dewulf and Elbers (2018) is a conceptual analysis of power dynamics in cross-sector partnerships. They argue that partnerships are not a panacea for solving complex issues as power imbalances are very likely to exist, and as a consequence, low-power parties are likely to be excluded or not have their interests served.…”