Power relationships in a third sector network: A case study

Abstract

This article presents a case study analyzing power relationships in a reticular structure of non-profit organizations, Cooperapic, so as to evaluate to what extent the power concentration and the nucleation at a central actor can be a relevant factors to the network's structural integrity. Social network analysis was used as to compare relationship scenarios and to measure the power concentration. The analysis revealed that the network is decentralized and has a low level of total power, but it has clusters which concentrate power and may fragment the network. The study also showed the importance of the central actor as well as the impacts of its exclusion from the network.