ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of investments in community organizing made as part of a 10-year comprehensive community initiative focused on community power building in California. Data from multiple sources were used to examine the relationship between investments and one measure of civic engagement, voter turnout. Comparisons were made over time (2010–2019) and between intervention and propensity-weighted comparison sites. Analyses determined that investments by the funder were positively associated with turnout; this effect differed across elections and was largest in 2012. Broad investments to support community engagement, organizing, and base building had a positive impact on voting, an important indicator of civic engagement. In historically marginalized or underserved communities, investing in power building can yield benefits despite structural barriers that result in inequities. As restrictive electoral reforms grow across the country in the wake of the 2020 election, initiatives designed to build power may support proactively organizing against these changes or provide the infrastructure to understand and navigate them. Investing in community power building is a promising strategy for philanthropic organizations, organizers, and policy makers.

摘要

本研究的目的是考察社区组织投资的影响，这是一项为期 10 年的综合社区计划的一部分，重点关注加州社区权力建设。来自多个来源的数据被用来检验投资与衡量公民参与度的一项指标——选民投票率之间的关系。随着时间的推移（2010-2019 年）以及干预和倾向加权比较站点之间进行了比较。分析确定资助者的投资与投票率呈正相关；这种影响因选举而异，在 2012 年影响最大。支持社区参与、组织和基础建设的广泛投资对投票产生了积极影响，而投票是公民参与的重要指标。在历史上被边缘化或服务不足的社区，尽管存在导致不平等的结构性障碍，但投资电力建设仍可带来收益。2020 年大选后，随着限制性选举改革在全国范围内展开，旨在增强权力的举措可能会支持主动组织起来应对这些变化，或提供理解和驾驭这些变化的基础设施。对于慈善组织、组织者和政策制定者来说，投资社区力量建设是一项有前途的战略。