Community campaigns: the power to change

Institutional power no longer delivers for citizens: it always struggled to do so but did so much better than it does now. Consequently, new sources of citizens’ power must be organised and new institutions created or old ones remade. Prime amongst this turn to popular power are the organised representatives of workers, community campaigns and using the organs of the existing state. So, this chapter begins by examining why the people have been failed by existing democracy and institutions are failing to work for people. It then moves to consider three issues: i) whether the new vibrant muscles can be developed on the body of existing unions; ii) whether communities can create their own new institutions of power situated within themselves; and iii) how does the state facilitate and support the potential pockets of worker and community power?