By what measures can the political power of an organization be estimated?

Question

I asked this question earlier: Which is more dangerous to US democracy: Far-left or far-right ideologies? and after thinking about the comments received, I realized that I should start with some underlying questions. Mainly, what measures are commonly used to estimate the political power of an organization? For example, in a history of health insurance in the US I recently read, the author claims that the power of the American Medical Association has decreased since the 1930s. In general, given that the indicators of political power might be very different depending on the group of interest, what would one look at to make such an estimate of of any organization, be it an official political party or the girl scouts?

I did see this post: What methodologies of measuring the power of the state are researched today? but it seems to primarily address power at a national/global level.

Answer 1

I'm posting this as Community Wiki so others can add to this.

Traditional Measures

1. The number of people in the organization, both as measured in dues paying members or volunteers, and employees. This measure should be fairly self-evident; if a movement exists rather than an astroturf organization, it will be most conspicuous in the number of people it can mobilize. Related is the ability to get out the vote or motivate to action third-party actors that are only softly related to the movement or organization.
2. The amount of resources, especially money, the organization can lay claim to and bring to bear on campaigns and messaging.
3. The number of "wins" at the policy level the organization has achieved, such as championing legislation, regulations, pro se or other litigation and other actions that have tangible results on the law.
4. The ability to viewed as an expert (cited in the press, appears on talkshows, webpage visits.) as the result of policy papers, experience, and/or research.
5. The ability to change the culture through influence, communications, social media, events and symbols. Tangentially related to the ability to move the Overton Window.
6. The ability to keep things from being talked about, reported in the news, and/or otherwise scrutinized.

Answer 2

To provide a context we can utilize Tip O'Neill's sage observation as to the domain of politics

All politics is local

1. Institutionalization. Institutionalization of core mission, interests and goals. Charismatic leaders and executives are finite. Institutions have no definitive end.

2. Property. Property and capital ownership is a prerequisite for a political base of power. Without property ownership an organization has no base of power. An institution can acquire, lose ownership and reacquire, hold, liquidate and transfer real and intellectual property.

3. Culture. Consistent and sustained human activity manifesting the organizations' institutionalized core mission, interests and goals.

4. Fear. Without palpable fear of reprisal from, litigation against, and confrontation with the organization rivals and competitors will have no reason to believe that a hostile takeover of the organization will not be cost effective. The organization must counterbalance this necessity with, if at all possible, avoidance of hatred, which can endure.

5. Love. A currency within political economy is being loved from within and without. Charity, rewards, and extraordinary recognition are several forms of love which the organization can bestow upon their constituents and the public at large. A counterbalance to fear and hatred.

Using the above five basic parameters a comparative analysis could begin by asking

1. Has the organization historically survived adversity and expanded its influence?

2. What is the organizations' total assets and liabilities?

3. Is the organizations' internal culture susceptible to external influences and to what extent has the culture of the organization spread to other organizations and the public at large compared to the organizations' rivals and competitors?

4. Has the organization filed lawsuits to assert rights, defended against whistle-blowers, competitors and other opposing third-parties and what percentage of the organizations' resources are allocated to its legal and lobbying divisions?

5. Does the organization give to charities, provide rewards to its constituents for extraordinary conduct within the organization, has the organization historically retained and increases constituents and what percentage of the organizations' resources are allocated to public relations and constituent acquisition divisions?

which should each provide quantitative data to review and assess as to the power of the organization within the sector of human activity which the organization operates.