Give People a Sense of Their Own Power

People should come away from the cam paign feeling that the victory was won by them, not by experts, lawyers, or politicians. This builds both their confidence to take on larger issues and their loyalty to the organi zation. The word "empowerment" is often used in this context, but actually it implies a different concept. Empowerment implies giving people power, but only someone very powerful, surely not an organizer, has power to give away. Citizens either have power in a particular situation or they don't. If they do, they can be made aware of it. If they don't, they can be shown how to gain it. It is very rarely given to them.

— Organizing for social change by Kimberley A. Bobo (Page 24)