Collective impact: lessons from the American democratic tradition

Collective Impact, a framework for improving social service provision first articulated in 2011, promises to improve efficiency while creating win-win cross-sector collaborations to solve the root causes of pressing community needs. This paper argues that in its current articulation, Collective Impact might deliver efficiencies but not transformative change. Positioning Collective Impact within the tradition of US democratic traditions, starting with Alexis de Tocqueville's observations about the importance of US civil society for building an engaged citizenry, highlights specific ways to augment the framework's transformative potential. In contrast to the neoliberal insistence that marketized social service providers are best suited for delivering efficient social service provision, this paper argues that Collective Impact leaders can take responsibility for strengthening civil society for real transformative change.