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My book, Power to the Partners (University of Chicago Press, 2025), documents the vital role of social and economic justice organizations in American politics and explores the process by which they strategically build partnerships to advance more effective and equitable advocacy. Using original data tracking the collaboration patterns of more than twenty thousand nationally active advocacy organizations in administrative rulemaking, I evaluate the micro- and macro-level conditions surrounding these groups’ successful efforts to collectively shape public policy. Power to the Partners reveals that while organizational advocates for social and economic justice are at a disadvantage in the American lobbying landscape—financially, tactically, and politically—coalition work can help ameliorate these disparities. By building and sustaining coalitions with structures and memberships that facilitate clarity, learning, and diverse perspectives, these advocates can successfully—and uniquely—make their mark on American public policy. This work offers critical insights for scholars and practitioners alike, from novel academic findings to evidence-based lessons for political organizers. |
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Praise for Power to the Partners:
"Truly remarkable in its data collection and empirical scope, Power to the Partners is an important contribution to several literatures. It addresses normatively and substantively fundamental questions about the representation of marginalized groups in American politics. A winner." —Frank R. Baumgartner, Richard J. Richardson Distinguished Professor of Political Science, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "Coalition politics and administrative policymaking are concepts that don't usually travel together, but Power to the Partners shows that they are inseparably linked. After learning from Dwidar's innovative and exhaustive analysis of hundreds of thousands of organizations involved in thousands upon thousands of federal rules, students and scholars will never again see rulemaking quite the same way." — Daniel Carpenter, Allie S. Freed Professor of Government, Harvard University "Drawing on the power of computational tools and original data collection, Power to the Partners answers a question crucial to identifying a pathway out of this fractured political moment in America: namely, how can groups build and sustain successful coalitions to advance a more just and equitable society? A must-read for anyone interested in nurturing successful political partnerships." —Hahrie Han, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Professor of Political Science, Johns Hopkins University |