Talk by Walter W. Powell, Stanford University

Civic Life Reexamined: How Do Organizational Practices Influence Participation?

Walter W. Powell, Stanford University,

with Yi Zhao, University of New South Wales and Qian Wei, Wilfrid Laurier University

We examine the diverse participatory styles of civic organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area, analyzing how these groups engage both internal staff and external stakeholders in their decision-making processes. Employing hierarchical cluster analysis on a random sample of 300 nonprofit organizations, we identify four distinct participatory styles— which we label as Parliament, Guild, Collective, and Dream. Each style demonstrates distinct patterns of engagement in organizational tasks. Through network filtration analysis, we analyze the coherence of relationships among organizational practices, uncovering the foundational elements of these participatory styles. The Parliament style merges professional management with inclusive decision-making; the Guild style upholds a traditional civic ethos with robust volunteer involvement. The Collective style blends professionalism with volunteerism, and the Dream style features centralized leadership and restricted organizational involvement. Our findings offer deeper insights into the role of civic organizations in shaping social and political landscapes, emphasizing that active participation acts as a "muscle memory" of democracy, vital for nurturing civic virtues. We posit that civic life is actively constructed through participatory engagement, reflecting a complex interplay both within and between organizations.

Woody Powell is Jacks Family Professor of Education, and Professor of Sociology, Organizational Behavior, Management Science and Engineering, and Communication at Stanford University, and a faculty fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He was a founding co-director of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society in 2006, and currently shares the Marc and Laura Andreessen Co-Directorship with Rob Reich and Robb Willer. At PACS, he heads the Civic Life of Cities Lab, which studies civil society organizations in the SF Bay Area, Seattle, Shenzhen, Sydney, Taipei, and Vienna. Woody was the 2018 -19 recipient of the Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching in the School of Humanities and Sciences. Prior to moving to Stanford in 1999, he taught at Yale, MIT, and the University of Arizona. He has received honorary degrees from Uppsala University, Copenhagen Business School, and Aalto University, and is a foreign member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Science. He served as an external faculty member of the Santa Fe Institute from 2001-13, and continues his involvement with SFI today. His most recent books include The Emergence of Organizations and Markets, with John F. Padgett (Princeton University Press) and The Nonprofit Sector, co-edited with Patricia Bromley (forthcoming from Stanford University Press). His research interests focus on the processes through which ideas and practices are transferred across organizations, and the role of networks in facilitating or hindering innovation.

The talk is part of the SCANCOR Morning Lectures on Institutional Analysis 2024 from Aug. 26th to 30th. Participation in the morning lectures is free of charge. For those seeking to attend, we kindly ask to register on our website.