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| Women in Leadership |
| Advocacy Politics by Jan Secor, Ed.D. |
| Advocacy Politics – Influencing the formation and implementation of public policy 1. Legislative action: lobbying elected officials and administrators, proposing legislation, monitoring enforcement, gaining use of public resources. 2. Judicial activism: ensuring access to the courts, establishing case law, influencing appointment of judges. 3. Public education: drawing attention to an issue through mass media campaigns and by creating newsworthy events, introducing ideas in the schools, developing information through research and issuing position papers, and educating public officials, police, and others. When we think of politics, we usually think of elections. Political parties exist to get their people elected to office. Each party has a platform listing the issues it supports. However, issues are usually secondary |
to the goal of gaining power through elections and/or appointments. Issues are often selected for a party platform because the party believes these issues will attract voters. The party may or may not seriously intend to enact the party platform. Advocacy groups on the other hand work entirely on issues. They usually focus more specifically on a single-issue or several related issues than a political party. An advocacy group may promote issues that are not popular with the majority of voters or perhaps are not yet understood by the majority such as environmental protection, peace and disarmament, or home schooling (teaching children at home instead of in school). An advocacy group may also represent a portion of the population such as women, people with disabilities, hiking and camping enthusiasts, etc. Advocacy groups encompass the entire range of political ideas. Some are quite radical while others are quite conservative. The tactics they use to promote issues also range over the entire spectrum from marching in the streets to sponsoring art exhibits and from filing lawsuits in court to sitting in front of bulldozers. To some degree the tactics selected by an advocacy group depend upon the resources available to the group. If the group has a lot of people but very little money it is more likely to hold rallies and demonstrations than to buy television advertising. However, even a small group with little money can have an impact by being very smart about using the resources available. Advocacy generally takes place with legislative or administrative bodies of government, with or through the judicial system, and with or through public opinion. Most issue campaigns combine at least two or even all three approaches. Legislative action: Elected officials are subject to influence by “the voters” because they want to be elected again to the same or another office. Administrative officials are usually appointed by elected officials so are also subject to influence by “the voters.” Both elected and administrative officials want to be effective so can be influenced when the advocacy group appears to be helping them do a good job. The most direct form of influence is called lobbying. The term comes from the fact that the people who lobby usually congregate in the lobby of the building where the legislative body meets waiting to speak to its members. A lobbyist may be paid or may be a volunteer. Advocacy groups often have a paid lobbyist who coordinates the work of its volunteer lobbyists because keeping track of an issue can be very time consuming. Sometimes a lobbyist will work for several advocacy groups that are working on similar or related issues. The lobbyist gets to know as many legislators as possible. Then, the lobbyist presents the views of the advocacy group to the legislator or more frequently helps volunteers present the views of the advocacy group to the legislators from their district. It is always more significant to have a person from the district talk to a legislator than to have a lobbyist talk to a legislator. The purpose of talking to a legislator is to enlist aid in passing legislation supported by the advocacy group or in putting resources into the programs supported by the advocacy group. An advocacy group will work with a legislator over time to develop a relationship of trust so that the legislator will respect the views of the advocacy group and support the work of the group not only by voting for the bills the group supports but also by moving bills through the legislative process. Legislators rarely have time to become experts on all of the issues they must confront. The advocacy group can provide important information to help the legislator understand complex issues. As part of that process lobbyists will testify when a legislative committee holds a hearing on a bill or more commonly organize a group of volunteers to testify at a committee hearing. The lobbyist may also provide written information to the legislator. Thousands of bills are introduced each year. Only a handful of them will actually come to the floor for a vote. To move a bill through the legislative process requires the action of legislators and their staff so that bills receive required committee hearings, are voted on in committee, are moved forward to other committees, and are scheduled for a vote on the floor. Often how each legislator votes on issues of interest to an advocacy group will be carefully monitored. It is very important to know whether there are enough votes to pass a bill before it goes to the floor for a vote because it is usually a mistake to let a bill be defeated. However, when it is believed that legislators are telling the public they support a bill that they do not really support, bringing it to a vote may force legislators to show their true position. In the American system, a bill must not only pass the legislative body but must then be signed by the Governor, Mayor, or President depending on whether the bill is to be enacted at the state, city, or national level. The lobbyist may also organize members of the advocacy group to write letters or send messages to the executive urging him to sign the bill. Once a bill is passed, the work of the advocacy group is not over because the action required by the bill must be implemented. This usually requires funding and regulations. As a bill moves through the legislative process, funding for implementation is also discussed. A bill almost always requires a budget item to support it. In addition, when new legislation is passed various administrative bodies are responsible for writing regulations that will tell the government exactly what the bill means. The regulations can entirely change the outcome of the legislation. Therefore, it is critical that advocacy group monitor the public meetings of the bodies that must approve the regulations. Often advocacy groups will testify at regulatory hearings or provide comments on proposed regulations. Generally regulations are proposed and circulated for comment before they are adopted. After the bill is passed, signed, and the regulations have been adopted, the advocacy group will want to monitor implementation to be sure that the outcome is what they expected. If some unforeseen outcome appears, then the group will want to amend the legislation to improve the result. Judicial activism: Sometimes new legislation is not necessary to achieve the desired result. Advocacy groups will often take a matter to court under existing laws seeking a judicial interpretation that will apply an existing law to a new situation or require a government entity to enforce an existing regulation it is failing to enforce or punish an individual or business for violation of an existing regulation. The advocacy group can not just decide to take a case to court but it can provide legal assistance to an individual or a group of individuals who have been damaged by the actions of the government, a business, or other individuals. Sometimes the goal of this type of legal action is to clarify the law, which almost means that the court will write regulations for implementation of the law. This is known as establishing case law. Advocacy groups also will educate the public or at least their members about the law so that they can better understand their rights. They will publish pamphlets explaining the law, hold workshops to discuss how to apply the law, and help lawyers prepare their cases. Sometimes advocacy groups provide free legal assistance to individuals or groups who want to protect themselves in court. Finally, advocacy groups will monitor the appointment of judges or participate in judicial elections to try to ensure that judges favorable to their point of view will preside in court. In the U.S. most judges at the local level are elected while all judges at the national level are appointed. Advocacy groups will interview judges who are running for office to ascertain their views on the issues of concern to the group. They will suggest potential judges to the elected officials who are responsible for appointing federal (national level) judges. Public education: Advocacy groups can only be successful in influencing legislation to the extent that the public supports the issues of their concern. While it may not be necessary to have a majority of the public support an issue in an opinion poll, it is important that the legislators think a large number of their constituents support the issue. Since many of the issues advocacy groups support are not initially popular issues, it is necessary to educate the public. For example, when Candy Lightner’s daughter was killed by a drunken driver, who swerved into her as she walked along the side of the road, Candy became angry. She founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to educate the public about the dangers of driving after drinking alcohol. The group has also lobbied legislatures to increase the penalties for driving while under the influence of alcohol and to lower the amount of alcohol a person can drink before being considered drunk. This group does not advocate against drinking alcohol but against driving a motor vehicle after drinking. They have sponsored mass media campaigns and educational programs in the schools. Other advocacy groups have conducted more general educational campaigns. For example, the American Lung Association has spent years educating the American public about the dangers of smoking cigarettes. They have also lobbied at the state and local level for laws that prohibit smoking in public places such as restaurants and airports. Women’s groups have educated the public about everything from women’s special health needs to the problem of violence in the family. Changing public attitudes about the role and status of women is a long-term proposition but the American women’s movement has been successful on some issues. For example, in the early 1970’s police officers would not respond when a woman called to report that her husband was beating her or even when he was threatening to kill her. Advocacy groups used a combination of public awareness campaigns, consciousness raising*, specific legislation, and education of the police to bring about a change in attitude toward this crime. While the earlier attitude was that the woman undoubtedly caused the problem by failing to be a “good” wife, the current attitude is moving toward one where beating your spouse is wrong no matter what she does. Because violence in the family is a complex issue with implications for all of society, we will use it as our primary example as we look at advocacy politics. *A note about consciousness raising: Because women are subject to the same social influences and men, women’s advocacy groups can not assume that women will understand a complex issue like family violence. For example, women, even women who are victims of violence, may feel that they are causing the violence. Consciousness raising involves helping people see an issue from a new perspective. Maybe it should be called “changing awareness” or “changing understanding.” It often involves small groups of women discussing an issue at length in an open, non-judgmental atmosphere where they can explore various points of view. It may also involve presenting information through TV or video, written materials, or art exhibits. |