Political Capital is a Measure of Power

How powerful are you?

Power is the ability to make stuff happen. In complex systems like government, making stuff happen usually means coordinating people, resources, and attention in the direction of the thing you want. The amount of coordination you can accomplish is the amount of power you have, and it can be measured in political capital.

Working with Daniel Golliher’s definition, I propose that political capital = domain knowledge + social relationships. Domain knowledge is what you know about the system and how it works. Social relationships are the people you know and the people who know you; networks of trust and reputation. These two things are related, and their summation is your measure of political capital.

If you want to make something happen, you need enough political capital to spend. Just as financial capital buys assets, political capital buys coordination.

Political capital and the civic industrial base

For this reason, political capital is the currency of the civic industrial base; the means by which governing happens. In my post on the civic industrial base, I explained how police conduct was formally changed. The process required substantial political capital:

Civic Industrial Base activity related to police policy

It required the domain knowledge to identify the Police Commission as a key lever in the decision-making process, understanding the intricacies of SFPD Department General Orders, and having the legal savvy to recognize this could be done without Board approval. It also required a social graph of advocates working together, finding allies on the Commission, and signaling enough community political support that stakeholders felt comfortable enough to vote it through.

This is how it works. Some changes require much more political capital than this, but many require much less. Concrete examples of how it’s used to effect change make it easier to assess your own activities and political capital.

You’re probably broke

How much political capital do you have? Most people have almost none. But now you can at least measure it. And once you can measure it, you can systematically acquire more. You can get started at any time with permissionless politics, because civics is another realm in which you can just do stuff.

Domain knowledge

It’s hard to fix a system you don’t understand, so domain knowledge is a prerequisite to meaningful political capital. Consider your level of expertise - can you explain each of the layers of the civic industrial base and key members in each? Can you explain the mechanics of your government in detail?

If not, there is a hard limit on the amount of political capital you can acquire. Begin by learning the fundamentals. I teach people How SF Gov Works, and MNY provides the Foundations of NYC. Whatever your path, don’t get stuck in the gap between where you are and what you hope to achieve. A good Substack post about your local park is a more useful starting point than you might expect.

Social relationships

Governing is a human art, which means there are limits to what the law and data can tell you. The best way to test and apply your domain knowledge is out there in the world with your fellow citizens.

Why should anyone care what you think? Who do you trust to inform your own thinking? You can answer both of these by engaging with your neighbors and broader communities of interest. And once again, don’t overlook what’s immediately available to you. In a future post, I’ll explain the surprising string of serendipity that resulted from joining my neighborhood association.

A note on becoming powerful

Acquiring political capital is acquiring power. If you care about your city and your world, you should try to do it. But I suggest you only pursue it in the direction of your legitimate interest. I say this because you can fake it; you can pursue power for its own sake. But people will be able to tell because authenticity has a magic that is hard to fake. You’ll have less fun and it will ultimately hold you back. Luckily, this is easily solved by earnestly going in the direction of whatever calls to you. Identify what you care about and let your curiosity and conviction carry you. I’ll see you out there.