CitizenLab's Blog
  • Platform
  • Services
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Guides
  • About
  • Contact
  • Schedule a demo
  • English
  • Home
  • >
  • 🏛️ Blog
  • >
  • What is the difference between Old and New Power?

What is the difference between Old and New Power?

By Evy Beekers Civic Engagement 24/03/2020
CitizenLab's Blog
  • Platform
  • Services
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Guides
  • About
  • Contact
  • Schedule a demo
  • English
This blog post is inspired by the article “Understanding New Power” by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms, which is an extract from their book New Power.

Power is shifting; many processes in our society are – slowly but surely – becoming increasingly shared, open and participatory. New movements like #MeToo illustrate how channelling the power of many can lead to overthrowing more traditional and authoritative power figures. It’s exemplary for how our communities seem to be moving away from a leader-driven and top-down approach, towards a more peer-driven form of power that moves sideways.

People often attribute this shift to the rise of technology; tech would provide more people with the opportunity to access information as well as share ideas with their peers. Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms argue in their book “New Power“, however, that technology isn’t the catalysator but merely the enabler of this broader, societal transformation. The main driver between the growing tension between old and new power, according to them, is human agency. 

Regardless of the underlying reason behind this shift, it’s becoming clear that institutions founded on old power principles, like governments, are struggling to adapt to the changing landscape. Because what is precisely the difference between Old and New Power? How can local councils start to implement a more peer-driven, participatory culture? And is there a way for governments to benefit from both models? Let’s have a look!

What is the difference?

The big difference is thus that old systems aim to control power, while new systems aim to channel it. Consequently, by relying on this participatory energy, new power also requires a lot more flexibility than old power.

An institutionalized old power example, as also referred to by Heimans & Timms in their book, is the tax system. Aside from a vote every few years, citizens get little to no agency in deciding how to spend funds. Said in tech terms: the user experience of taxpayers is very unrewarding. By installing participatory processes in tax returns, for instance, these traditional power forms could become less dull. What if taxpayers would receive a thank you video by people who are helped with this money? Via installing a “feedback loop” citizens not only get a better indication of where their money goes, but it also makes the process more personal and rewarding.

If we want to rebuild public trust in our institutions, we have to let people get their hands on them.

Jeremy Heimans & Henry Timms, New Power (2018)

Participatory budgeting is in this regard a step in the right direction, as it allows citizens to allocate budgets themselves. Participatory budgets can serve a larger purpose by giving citizens ownership and a real opportunity to participate. As in any crowdsourcing project, bias can, however, influence the outcome of participatory budgets: some projects might go viral, while others are vital. Bias immediately outlines the potential issue with new power: participation and transparency don’t inherently lead to equal representation or inclusion. Old power structures could thus be necessary to ensure these participatory processes run fairly.

Civic Tech is another clear example of a form of new power. It is open and participatory and aims to channel the engagement between citizens and local councils. By building on these new power values, Civic Tech provides an opportunity for rebuilding trust within your community. The strength of power being “made by many”, is citizens feeling a part of something, owing to the agency or ownership they receive.

Moving towards a more participatory culture

Having a Facebook page, or a participation platform for that matter, does not equal having a new power model. A fancy platform won’t magically change the internal, often bureaucratic structures and values of large public administrations. Nevertheless, having the right technology can serve as a starting point to shift towards a more participatory culture.

Civic Tech provides the tools to start changing these underlying processes, for instance by engaging with your community throughout the policy process via the different participation methods. Remember though: the tech remains an enabler for building these processes within a government, teams will have to put in the work to actually make it happen.

Moving towards a participatory culture doesn’t require your local council to overhaul the values on which it is based entirely. It could be interesting, however, to sit down with your team and discuss how the new power values could serve as guidelines in designing your next participation project.

When moving towards new power values, realize that the organizational challenge becomes finding a way to channel citizens’ passion again and again. In today’s interconnected world, governments aren’t the only ones competing for citizens’ attention and commitment… It means that you have to invest in growing a participatory culture – rather than delivering a single successful project – to become truly effective in navigating the new power landscape.

To grow this culture, it can help to move citizens up the participation ladder via a variety of participation projects. It takes some time to build trust, but governments can come a long way by taking participation seriously and providing better feedback loops to the community.

The best of both worlds

Which new power values are feasible for your local council to embrace? Which participation behaviours can you enable, and on which promises can you deliver? Start the conversation internally about adapting to these new realities and how your local council can respond. 

Answering these questions doesn’t always lead to a resolute determination to deploy new systems. It can also help you identify the core aspects of your government model that you can’t or won’t change. Old power values are useful to ensure inclusion in participatory projects and with this old and new power can reinforce each other. In the end, it’s all about finding the sweet spot.

Read more

  • What is the difference between Civic Tech and GovTech?
  • What is the difference between Citizen Engagement and Citizen Participation?
  • What is the difference between deliberative and participatory democracy?
  • What is the difference between Artificial and Collective Intelligence?
  • What is the difference between Radical and Incremental Change?

You May Also Like

moderation guidelines tips community engagement moderatie modereren
Civic Engagement 07/09/2023
Ensuring constructive conversations: Best practices for moderation of a community engagement platform
moderation guidelines tips community engagement moderatie modereren
Civic Engagement 07/09/2023
Ensuring constructive conversations: Best practices for moderation of a community engagement platform
inklusive bĂĽrgerbeteiligung schwer erreichbare gruppen aktivieren empfehlungen inclusive community engagement tips best practices inclusieve participatie
Civic Engagement 24/08/2023
Inclusive community engagement: 10 good practices to mobilise underheard audiences
inklusive bĂĽrgerbeteiligung schwer erreichbare gruppen aktivieren empfehlungen inclusive community engagement tips best practices inclusieve participatie
Civic Engagement 24/08/2023
Inclusive community engagement: 10 good practices to mobilize underheard audiences
man reading community engagement inspiring examples july
Civic Engagement 15/08/2023
Community engagement examples: July’s inspiring platforms
Written By
Evy Beekers

Content Manager at CitizenLab - Passionate about storytelling, sustainability, and cinema.

Solutions
  • All solutions
  • Strategy & Budgeting
  • Planning & Public Spaces
  • Environment & Sustainability
  • Mobility & Infrastructure
  • Neighborhoods & Community Development
Platform
  • Platform features
  • Services
  • Plans
  • Schedule a demo
Academy
  • Resources
  • Blog
Company
  • About
  • Jobs
  • Partners
Get in touch
  • +44 79 2676 4670
  • +1 530 270 3403
  • Contact form
© 2022 CitizenLab: Community Engagement Platform. All rights reserved.
By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Reject Cookie Settings Accept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
CookieLawInfoConsent1 yearRecords the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie.
geot_rocket_citysessionNo description available.
geot_rocket_countrysessionNo description available.
geot_rocket_statesessionNo description available.
PHPSESSIDsessionThis cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
STYXKEY_geot_countrysessionNo description
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
CookieDurationDescription
bcookie2 yearsLinkedIn sets this cookie from LinkedIn share buttons and ad tags to recognize browser ID.
langsessionLinkedIn sets this cookie to remember a user's language setting.
lidc1 dayLinkedIn sets the lidc cookie to facilitate data center selection.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_gat_gtag_UA_65562281_11 minuteSet by Google to distinguish users.
_gcl_au3 monthsProvided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
undefinedneverWistia sets this cookie to collect data on visitor interaction with the website's video-content, to make the website's video-content more relevant for the visitor.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
_fbp3 monthsThis cookie is set by Facebook to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the website.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysA cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSCsessionYSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt.innertube::nextIdneverThis cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requestsneverThis cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
intercom-id-p4lr69wg8 months 26 days 1 hourNo description
intercom-session-p4lr69wg7 daysNo description
loglevelneverNo description available.
trx_addons_is_retina1 yearThis cookie is used for checking if the user has a retina display.
wp-wpml_current_languagesessionNo description available.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
CookieDurationDescription
AMP_TOKEN1 hourThis cookie is set by Google Analytics and contains a token that can be used to retrieve a Client ID from AMP Client ID service. Other possible values indicate opt-out, inflight request or an error retrieving a Client ID from AMP Client ID service.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo