Spectrum of Support

Organizing is often a struggle between those who want a change and those who don’t. In this struggle, we rarely win by overpowering or convincing our opposition. We win by undermining our opposition’s power by engaging a broad range of allies and shifting support toward us. Rather than just “us vs. them,” this tool maps people and groups along a spectrum of support, revealing opportunities for strategic action. 

Mapping Support

In between “us,” our organization, base, or drivers of a campaign, and “them,” our campaign target or political opponent – we can identify individuals, groups, and constituencies across levels of support:

• Active Support – those who agree with us and are taking action alongside us
• Passive Support – those who agree with us, but aren’t doing anything about it (yet!)
• Neutral – those who aren’t sure, don’t care, and/or are uninformed
• Passive Opposition – those who disagree with us, but aren’t doing anything to stop us
• Active Opposition – those who disagree with us and taking action against us 

When mapping, we first identify individuals or groups related to our issue, then ask, “where do they stand along the spectrum?” It’s helpful to be as specific as possible. Instead of “churches,” we might have “progressive pastors of downtown churches” as passive support and “conservative megachurch newsletter writers” as active opposition. As much as possible, we use observations, actions, and evidence, not just our assumptions about a group. 

Unlocking Strategy

Focusing only on our political opposition or campaign target can be draining. It can lead to an “us against the world” mentality, conflating anyone outside our group as the opposition, getting us stuck repeating the same actions as a righteous fringe. Focusing only on our own group and active supporters can lead to isolation and tactics that ‘preach to the choir’ at the expense of building power.

Instead, the Spectrum of Support broadens our view of forces around our issue, as we consider different interests across the spectrum. We build power by shifting groups toward us while undermining our opponents’ support. The aim is not to move every group into active support, all at once. Change is often won by moving key groups one step in our direction, from neutral to passive support, passive opposition to neutral, etc. In this way, we can win campaigns and political struggles without our direct opponents having a ‘change of heart.’

Engaging the Spectrum of Support

Each wedge brings different opportunities. Given where people or groups are on the spectrum, we can ask, “what are our organizing aims, and do our actions match those aims?” Broadly these choices are about activating allies, neutralizing opposition, and isolating our targets or opponents. They inform tactics, messaging, and other strategy choices.

• Active Support – Deepen commitment & create opportunities for action; learn about their motivations, resources, and feedback; offer training and leadership development; create leadership roles and structures to absorb people; demonstrate unity and cohesion.
• Passive Support – Learn what’s keeping them passive & offer a ‘first step’ for getting active; create lower risk opportunities for action; use one-on-one meetings and relationship building to learn about their self interest.
• Neutral – Inform & build new relationships; introduce ourselves, our issues, and our values; tell our story of the opposition and target; learn why they are neutral and what it would take for them to passively support us.
• Passive Opposition – Address their concerns or fears in ways that avert a move into active opposition and that might offer a chance to shift their position (even to become neutral).
• Active Opposition – Expose their interests & contrast them with our goals and values; reduce their legitimacy and isolate; learn what influence they have on our target and potential allies; learn what would demobilize them toward passive opposition.

Putting into Practice

This tool can be used at any stage of a campaign and for many kinds of decision making, including to: 

• Assess the range of forces when cutting an issue or planning a new campaign
• Identify secondary targets or where to focus your action
• Brainstorm tactics; design actions to move particular people or groups
• Craft narrative strategy and messaging 
• Teach about power analysis
• Assist a group in a strategy rut into creativity and possibility 
• Identify information gaps and research opportunities
• Grow awareness of your group’s relationships and influence
• Debrief an action or campaign to assess how support has shifted

The spectrum of support is never static, and our map is never “complete.” Whether used for quick brainstorming or comprehensive planning, it can be returned to throughout an organizing arc. The “perfect” placement of groups is less important than the debate, options, and perspective-taking to support dynamic strategy. 

Example Activity 

Introduce the Framework. Share that beyond “us vs. our target,” there’s a range of support on your issue, campaign, demand, etc. Draw or present the Spectrum of Support diagram, defining the different wedges, offering examples, and sharing useful concepts. 
Brainstorm. Invite brainstorming around which people or groups to add to each wedge. This can be done in one big group, small groups, or individually. You can collaborate on one spectrum or have people work on their own, then compare. 
Ask questions to reflect. How was that? What similarities do we notice? Where do we need more information? Invite specificity and healthy debate, i.e. Why did you place that politician there? What have we seen them do or say on our issue recently? 
Draw out lessons and/or move to decision making. Depending on your goals, identify strategy lessons, opportunities, next steps, decisions, further research, etc. 

Follow up activity options: 

• Sorting. Debate which person or group along the spectrum to focus on, which you could most influence next,  or which have the most impact on your direct opponent. Have the group vote on their choices, then discuss similarities and differences.
• Propose actions. Brainstorm action tactics that might move a particular person or group one step toward you. Compare and evaluate options.
• Role play, inviting small groups to assume the role of a particular ‘passive opponent,’ ‘neutral,’ etc., then respond to an action idea or discuss their position on the issue. Where This Tool Comes From

Where this tool comes from:
Based on “Spectrum of Allies,” by George Lakey, Training for Change. Edited by Zein Nakhoda, inspired by adaptations from Beautiful Trouble, and frameworks by Movement for New Society.