Who Really Decides? A Guide to Power Mapping

Why a petition needs a target

A petition is not just a message sent to no one in particular. It is a way of showing a specific person or organisation that many people want them to do a specific thing. That only works if there really is a person or organisation who can do the thing you are asking for.

Signatures are your pressure. A target is where you aim that pressure. Aim it at “the government” in general, or at someone with no real power over the decision, and ten thousand signatures land on the wrong desk – and change nothing.

Working out the people and power behind your issue often takes only an hour or two. It is one of the quickest and most useful things you can do before launching.

Start with the decision, not the problem

People usually begin with a problem: “the bus service is being cut”, “the factory is polluting the river”, “the school wants to close the library”. That is the right starting point, but you cannot address a petition to a problem. You address it to whoever makes the decision behind the problem.

So turn the problem into a decision. Not “save the buses” but “keep route 12 running on evenings and weekends” – then ask who has the authority to make that happen. The person who can grant your request is your primary target. Everything else in this guide is about the people around that person.

If you are not sure who that person is, a few quick checks usually reveal them: look at the organisation's own website (“who we are” or board pages), see who is quoted in news articles about the issue, read the minutes of public meetings, or simply phone and ask “who has to approve this?”

Naming that target well is a whole topic in itself. For the full walk-through – including how to research who decides and what to do when several people share the power – see How to Choose a Decision-Maker for Your Petition. The rest of this guide assumes you already have a rough target and shows you the people around them.

Sort the people into four groups

Once you know the decision, list every person or group who has anything to do with it. Then sort them into four simple groups. This is the heart of power mapping, and you can do it on a single sheet of paper. Two questions decide where each person goes: how much power do they have over the decision, and are they for you, against you, or undecided?

• Decision-makers. The people who can actually say yes or no – a minister, a mayor, a company director, a head teacher, a council committee. Usually only one or two truly matter, though some decisions need two in sequence (for example, an official who writes the recommendation and a council that then votes on it).
• Influencers. People who cannot make the decision themselves but who the decision-maker listens to: advisors, senior officials, a committee chair, a respected expert, a big donor, a well-known local figure, or the local newspaper.
• Allies. People and groups who already agree with you or easily could – affected residents, local associations, unions, charities, sympathetic politicians. These are the people who will sign, share, and speak up.
• Opponents and blockers. People who benefit from things staying as they are, or who will resist the change. You do not need to defeat them, but you should know who they are and what they will argue.

Write real names, not job titles or institutions. You cannot email “the council”; you can email the councillor who chairs the committee.

Next to each name, mark two quick things: how much power they have over the decision (high, medium, or low) and whether they are for you, against you, or undecided. This shows at a glance where to spend your limited time – usually on the people who have high power but have not yet taken a side.

There is a third question: does the person care about the issue at all? Someone with high power who is undecided needs convincing. Someone with high power who has never thought about the issue needs something simpler first: their attention. For them, do not start with an argument – start by putting the issue in front of them: a local news story, a question at a public meeting, or a message from someone they know.

Draw the picture and find the route

Put the four groups on paper so you can see the relationships, not just the names: write your decision-maker in the middle, the influencers around them (draw a line from each one to the decision-maker), your allies on one side, and your opponents on the other.

Not every line is equal, so make the strong ones bold. An advisor the decision-maker speaks to every week matters far more than a newspaper that mentions the issue now and then. It is the strong connections, not the number of them, that move a decision.

The point of the picture is to find routes. You often cannot reach the decision-maker directly – but, as in the bus example above, one of your allies may know an influencer who can. That chain – ally to influencer to decision-maker – is your campaign plan. Three names on a line can be worth more than a thousand extra signatures.

Ask what moves each person

Names alone are not enough. For the people who matter most, ask a second question: what does this person actually care about? That tells you which argument to use with them.

People in power are usually moved by one of a few things:

• Reputation – how they look to the public or their peers.
• Votes – for elected politicians, what the people in their area think.
• Money or budget – the cost or saving involved.
• Rules or the law – what they are required or not allowed to do.
• Values – a belief or cause they have already spoken up for.

The same petition can be framed differently for different people. To a politician: “voters in your area care about this.” To a company director: “this is becoming a public embarrassment.” To an official: “the current situation may break the rules.” Match your message to what moves the person you are trying to reach.

Think about the middle, not just the ends

It is tempting to spend all your energy trying to convince the people who already agree with you and the people who never will. That part is usually wasted effort: your firm opponents will not change their minds, and your allies are already persuaded. But do not ignore your allies – they still need a clear ask and a reason to act. You just do not need to win them over.

The people worth persuading are in the middle (the people who could still go either way): the undecided public, the official who has not taken a side, the politician who has not committed. A growing petition is one of the best tools for moving these people, because it shows that support is real and public.

When you plan your messages and your promotion, aim them at this undecided middle. Ask: what would it take for a neutral person here to move one step in our direction?

Turn the map into actions

A power map is only useful if it changes what you do. Once you have it, decide:

• Who the petition is addressed to. Your primary decision-maker, named clearly.
• Who you will contact directly. Which influencers and allies will you reach by email, letter, or meeting – and who is the best person to make that contact?
• In what order. A common sequence: activate your allies first to build visible support, then reach the influencers, then approach the decision-maker at a moment that matters – a vote, a budget decision, or a deadline.
• Where you will collect signatures. Go where your allies and the undecided middle already are: their communities, groups, and networks.
• What your opponents will say, and your answer. Prepare a short, calm response to their main argument before it appears.

Treat the map as a living document, not a one-off exercise. As the campaign grows, people move between groups – a neutral official becomes an ally, a quiet influencer speaks out, an opponent softens. Come back to it every few weeks, update it, and adjust who you focus on.

Remember a petition is one part of a campaign

Mapping power almost always shows the same truth: a petition on its own rarely changes a decision. What changes a decision is public support (your signatures) combined with pressure reaching the decision-maker through the right people at the right time.

Used this way – as visible, growing proof that stands behind the people you contact directly – a petition stops being a list of names. It becomes a tool aimed at the one person who can say yes.