Methods used by advocacy groups

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[1] The nature of the activities of advocacy groups is highly dependent on the scope and extent on group aims and objectives. Motives for advocacy group action may be based on a shared political, religious, moral, health or commercial position. Groups use varied methods to try to achieve their aims including lobbying, media campaigns, publicity stunts, polls, research, and policy briefings. Some groups are supported or backed by powerful business or political interests and exert considerable influence on the political process, while others have few or no such resources.

Contents

Letter-writing, petitions and marches

Traditionally, the campaigns of pressure groups have included things such as letter-writing, petitions and marches. For example, in the mid-1980s, LIFE compiled a petition of more than 2,000,000 names opposed to abortion, organised a "Mail MPs a Mountain" campaign in 1987 and employed postcard campaigns in 1989 and 1990 against the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. [2]

Marches and demonstrations organised by the Anti-Poll Tax Federation in 1990 were said to have contributed to Margaret Thatcher's resignation as Prime Minister in November that year, and led to the subsequent replacement of the 1989 Community Charge (poll tax) with council tax in 1993. In February 2003, millions took to the streets as part of the Stop the War Coalition's efforts to persuade the government not to deploy US forces in Iraq. [3]

In countries such as the United States, petition-signing and letter-writing have been used to good effect at pride marches. These have been influential in the repeal of sodomy laws, support for civil unions and same-sex marriage, and on supporting anti-discrimination legislation. For example, in the 1998 Asbury Park pride march, the New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Coalition distributed postcards to Christine Todd Whitman and to two members of the state assembly asking them to oppose a state version of the Defense of Marriage Act. The Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force also distributed an "Update Call to Action", urging people to make telephone calls to state officials and write letters in support of education reform, revising state education policies and encouraging lawmakers to add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected rights under the Pennsylvania Civil Rights Initiative. [1]

Following concerns over a proposed ban on hunting with dogs and lack of concern for rural issues, in 2002 the Countryside Alliance organised "the march for Liberty and Livelihood", which allegedly attracted over 400,000 people (including the Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith) and attracted supporters from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United States and across Europe. [4]

Directly influencing the legislative process

In most liberal democracies, advocacy groups tend to use the bureaucracy as the main channel of influence – because, in liberal democracies, this is where the decision-making power lies. The aim of advocacy groups here is to attempt to influence a member of the legislature to support their cause by voting a certain way in the legislature. Access to this channel is generally restricted to groups with insider status such as large corporations and trade unions – groups with outsider status are unlikely to be able to meet with ministers or other members of the bureaucracy to discuss policy. What must be understood about groups exerting influence in the bureaucracy is; "the crucial relationship here [in the bureaucracy] is usually that between the senior bureaucrats and leading business or industrial interests". [5] This supports the view that groups with greater financial resources at their disposal will generally be better able to influence the decision-making process of government. The advantages that large businesses have is mainly due to the fact that they are key producers within their countries economy and, therefore, their interests are important to the government as their contributions are important to the economy. According to George Monbiot, the influence of big business has been strengthened by "the greater ease with which corporations can relocate production and investment in a global economy". [6] This suggests that in the ever modernising world, big business has an increasing role in influencing the bureaucracy and in turn, the decision-making process of government.

Core insider groups have the ability to directly influence the formation of government policy at its primary sage through direct consultation with ministers, the civil service and government-appointed bodies working on these legislative proposals. Beyond these core insiders, specialist insider groups may also be called in to give specific information on a particular issue when it is necessary that their point of views or specialist interest is represented in discussions with ministers, the civil service or the government of the day. [2]

This consultation may involve informal discussions with relevant departments, or be more structured around a Green Paper Many larger groups employ lobbyists to pursue their legislative goals, and of those the richest groups maintain permanent Westminster offices. [2] In the modern era, it has become more common for groups to employ lobbyists who will use their contacts on behalf of the pressure group in question in exchange for a fee; however, groups whose aims are local and limited in scale may be able to achieve their goals without needing to lobby, in contrast to broader-based groups. [3]

In the British cash-for-questions affair, which began when The Guardian newspaper alleged that London's most successful parliamentary lobbyist, [7] Ian Greer of Ian Greer Associates, had bribed two Conservative Members of Parliament in exchange for asking parliamentary questions, and other tasks, on behalf of the Egyptian owner of Harrods department store, Mohamed Al-Fayed. [8] The controversy prompted John Major to instigate the Nolan Committee, to review the issue of standards in public life. [9] [10]

Lobbying in the US and in the UK is regulated to stop the worst abuses which can develop into corruption. In the United States the Internal Revenue Service makes a clear distinction between lobbying and advocacy. [11]

Influencing political parties

Advocacy groups can cultivate links with political parties in order to influence policy decisions. This is better done when the party is a party of opposition, as a party in government it will he hindered by time constraints, and policy formation is likely to be "top-down", not "bottom-up". However, when a party is in opposition, it will be more accepting towards a variety of ideas in order to broaden its support and formulate new policies. During Labour's time in opposition, groups such as Charter 88 and the Electoral Reform Society attempted to cultivate links with the party between 1979 and 1997. [2]

Another way groups can cultivate links with political parties is through campaign finance. For instance; in the UK, as the Conservative Party's campaigns are often funded by large corporations, [12] it has been argued that many of its campaigns reflect the interests of businesses. [13] In the United States, George W. Bush's re-election campaign in 2004 was the most expensive in American history and was financed mainly by large corporations and industrial interests that the Bush administration represented in government. [14] Conversely, left-wing parties are often funded by organised labour – when the British Labour Party was formed, it was largely funded by trade unions. Often, political parties are actually formed as a result of group pressure, for example, the Labour Party in the UK was formed out of the new trade-union movement which lobbied for the rights of workers. [15]

The judicial branch of government can also be used by advocacy groups to exert influence, especially in states that have codified constitutions, such as the United States. For example, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) lobbied against the Topeka Board of Education in 1954 ( Brown v. Board of Education ), arguing that segregation of education based on race was unconstitutional. As a result of group pressure from the NAACP, the supreme court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in education was indeed unconstitutional and such practices were banned. [16] This is a novel example of how advocacy groups can exert influence in the judicial branch of government.

Although British courts do not have the same powers of judicial review as the US Supreme Court, [2] litigation has been deemed a successful tactic for British pressure groups. Such action generally works on four levels:

Direct action campaigns

Use of direct action is increasingly popular among pressure groups. The premise of direct group action stems from the concept that traditional methods of influencing government policy are flawed, and that more direct protests, acts of civil disobedience and (in more extreme cases) illegal acts and violence may offer the best opportunity of group success, as they captivate media attention. [3]

In the 1970s and 1980s, direct action was often used by gay liberation movements; for example, the Gay Activists Alliance in the United States often used "zaps" to gain their objectives. [17]

Related Research Articles

In politics, lobbying, or advocacy, is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies, but also judges of the judiciary. Lobbying, which usually involves direct, face-to-face contact in cooperation with support staff that may not meet directly face-to-face, is done by many types of people, associations and organized groups, including individuals on a personal level in their capacity as voters, constituents, or private citizens; it is also practiced by corporations in the private sector serving their own business interests; by non-profits and non-governmental organizations in the voluntary sector through advocacy groups to fulfil their mission such as requesting humanitarian aid or grantmaking; and by fellow legislators or government officials influencing each other through legislative affairs in the public sector.

Public choice, or public choice theory, is "the use of economic tools to deal with traditional problems of political science." Its content includes the study of political behavior. In political science, it is the subset of positive political theory that studies self-interested agents and their interactions, which can be represented in a number of ways—using standard constrained utility maximization, game theory, or decision theory. It is the origin and intellectual foundation of contemporary work in political economy.

Advocacy is an activity by an individual or group that aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to influence public policy, laws and budgets by using facts, their relationships, the media, and messaging to educate government officials and the public. Advocacy can include many activities that a person or organization undertakes, including media campaigns, public speaking, commissioning and publishing research. Lobbying is a form of advocacy where a direct approach is made to legislators on a specific issue or specific piece of legislation. Research has started to address how advocacy groups in the United States and Canada are using social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iron triangle (US politics)</span> Aspect of politics

In United States politics, the "iron triangle" comprises the policy-making relationship among the congressional committees, the bureaucracy, and interest groups, as described in 1981 by Gordon Adams. Earlier mentions of this ‘iron triangle’ concept are in a 1956 Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report as, “Iron triangle: Clout, background, and outlook” and “Chinks in the Iron Triangle?”

Single-issue politics involves political campaigning or political support based on one essential policy area or idea.

Domestic policy, also known as internal policy, is a type of public policy overseeing administrative decisions that are directly related to all issues and activity within a state's borders. It differs from foreign policy, which refers to the ways a government advances its interests in external politics. Domestic policy covers a wide range of areas, including business, education, energy, healthcare, law enforcement, money and taxes, natural resources, social welfare, and personal rights and freedoms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lobbying in the United States</span>

Lobbying in the United States describes paid activity in which special interest groups hire well-connected professional advocates, often lawyers, to argue for specific legislation in decision-making bodies such as the United States Congress. It is often perceived negatively by journalists and the American public; critics consider it to be a form of bribery, influence peddling, and/or extortion. Lobbying is subject to complex rules which, if not followed, can lead to penalties including jail. Lobbying has been interpreted by court rulings as free speech protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Since the 1970s, the numbers of lobbyists and the size of lobbying budgets has grown and become the focus of criticism of American governance.

The Arab lobby in the United States is a collection of formal and informal groups and professional lobbyists in the United States paid directly by Gulf Arab states and private donors on behalf of the Arab states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civil society campaign</span>

A civil society campaign is one that is intended to mobilize public support and use democratic tools such as lobbying in order to instigate social change. Civil society campaigns can seek local, national or international objectives. They can be run by dedicated single-issue groups such as Baby Milk Action, or by professional non-governmental organisations (NGOs), such as the World Development Movement, who may have several campaigns running at any one time. Larger coalition campaigns such as 2005's Make Poverty History may involve a combination of NGOs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT movements in the United States</span>

LGBT movements in the United States comprise an interwoven history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied social movements in the United States of America, beginning in the early 20th century. A commonly stated goal among these movements is social equality for LGBT people. Some have also focused on building LGBT communities or worked towards liberation for the broader society from biphobia, homophobia, and transphobia. LGBT movements organized today are made up of a wide range of political activism and cultural activity, including lobbying, street marches, social groups, media, art, and research. Sociologist Mary Bernstein writes: "For the lesbian and gay movement, then, cultural goals include challenging dominant constructions of masculinity and femininity, homophobia, and the primacy of the gendered heterosexual nuclear family (heteronormativity). Political goals include changing laws and policies in order to gain new rights, benefits, and protections from harm." Bernstein emphasizes that activists seek both types of goals in both the civil and political spheres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equality North Carolina</span>

Equality NC(ENC) is the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights advocacy group and political lobbying organization in North Carolina and is the oldest statewide LGBT equality organization in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lobbying in the United Kingdom</span>

Lobbying in the United Kingdom plays a significant role in the formation of legislation and a wide variety of commercial organisations, lobby groups "lobby" for particular policies and decisions by Parliament and other political organs at national, regional and local levels.

Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimate public policy. They play an important role in the development of political and social systems.

Grassroots lobbying is lobbying with the intention of reaching the legislature and making a difference in the decision-making process. Grassroots lobbying is an approach that separates itself from direct lobbying through the act of asking the general public to contact legislators and government officials concerning the issue at hand, as opposed to conveying the message to the legislators directly. Companies, associations and citizens are increasingly partaking in grassroots lobbying as an attempt to influence a change in legislation.

Direct lobbying in the United States are methods used by lobbyists to influence United States legislative bodies. Interest groups from many sectors spend billions of dollars on lobbying.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairness Campaign</span>

The Fairness Campaign is a Louisville, Kentucky-based lobbying and advocacy organization, focusing primarily on preventing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The Fairness Campaign is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(4) organization. The organization is a member of the Equality Federation.

An advocacy group is a group or an organization that tries to influence the government but does not hold power in the government. Advocacy groups are generally classified according to two broad typologies: their core aims, and their relationship to government.

Lobbying in Canada is an activity where organizations or people outside of government attempt to influence the decision making of elected politicians or government officials at the municipal, provincial or federal level.

References

  1. 1 2 Raymond A. Smith; Donald P. Haider-Markel (2002). Gay and Lesbian Americans and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. pp. 62–63. ISBN   978-1-57607-256-1.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Paul Fairclough (2002). AS and A Level Government and Politics Through Diagrams. Oxford University Press. pp. 54–56. ISBN   978-0-19-913434-2.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Fairclough, Paul; Lynch, Philip (2013). AS UK Government & Politics (Fourth ed.). Hodder Education. pp. 119–140. ISBN   978-1-4441-8352-8.
  4. ↑ "Huge turnout for countryside march". BBC. 22 September 2002. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  5. ↑ Heywood, Andrew (2007). Politics. London: MacMillan. p. 305.
  6. ↑ Monibot, George (2011). The Captive State: The Corporate Take-Over of Britain. London: Pan.
  7. ↑ Christian Wolmar, Greer's lobby empire crashes, The Independent, 20 December 1996
  8. ↑ "Tory MPs were paid to plant questions says Harrods chief". The Guardian. 20 October 1994. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  9. ↑ MacIntyre, Donald (24 October 1994). "The Attack on Sleaze: Nolan committee expected to look at outside interests" . The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 2022-05-12. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  10. ↑ First Report of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (1995). p. 14.
  11. ↑ "Lobbying Versus Advocacy: Legal Definitions". NP Action. Archived from the original on 2 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-02.
  12. ↑ "The Tory 100: captains of industry, party donors (and a few tax avoiders)". The Guardian. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  13. ↑ Watt, Nicholas; Mason, Rowena (27 April 2015). "How the Conservatives orchestrated the letter from business leaders - and got it wrong". the Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  14. ↑ David Edwin Harrell Jr.; Edwin S. Gaustad; John B. Boles; Sally Foreman Griffith (4 August 2005). Unto a Good Land: A History of the American People. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 1192. ISBN   978-0-8028-3718-9.
  15. ↑ GORDON MARSHALL. "pressure groups." A Dictionary of Sociology. 1998. via Encyclopedia.com. (May 8, 2016).
  16. ↑ "Brown v. Board of Education Timeline". National Archives. United States. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  17. ↑ Faderman, Lillian and Stuart Timmons (2006). Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians. Basic Books. ISBN   0-465-02288-X. pp.1–2
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