Advocacy

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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 (often by lobby groups) is a form of advocacy where a direct approach is made to legislators on a specific issue or specific piece of legislation. [1] Research[ whose? ] has started to address how advocacy groups in the United States [2] and Canada [3] are using social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action.

Contents

Forms

There are several forms of advocacy, each representing a different approach in a way to initiate changes in the society. One of the most popular forms is social justice advocacy. [4] Cohen, de la Vega, and Watson (2001) state that this definition does not encompass the notions of power relations, people's participation, and a vision of a just society as promoted by social justice advocates. For them, advocacy represents the series of actions taken and issues highlighted to change the "what is" into a "what should be", considering that this "what should be" is a more decent and a more just society [4] Those actions, which vary with the political, economic and social environment in which they are conducted, have several points in common. [4] For instance, they:

Other forms of advocacy include:

Different contexts in which advocacy is used:

Tactics

Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink have observed four types of advocacy tactics:

  1. Information politics: quickly and credibly generating politically usable information and moving it to where it will have the most impact.
  2. Symbolic politics: calling upon symbols, actions, or stories that make sense of a situation for an audience that is frequently far away.
  3. Leverage politics: calling upon powerful actors to affect a situation where weaker members of a network are unlikely to have influence.
  4. Accountability politics: efforts to hold powerful actors to their previously stated policies or principles. [7]

These tactics have been also observed within advocacy organizations outside the USA. [8]

Use of the Internet

Groups involved in advocacy work have been using the Internet to accomplish organizational goals. It has been argued that the Internet helps to increase the speed, reach and effectiveness of advocacy-related communication as well as mobilization efforts, suggesting that social media are beneficial to the advocacy community. [3] [9] [10] [2]

Other examples

Advocacy activities may include conducting an exit poll or the filing of an amicus brief.

Topics

People advocate for a large number and variety of topics. Some of these are clear-cut social issues that are universally agreed to be problematic and worth solving, such as human trafficking. Others—such as abortion—are much more divisive and inspire strongly held opinions on both sides. There may never be a consensus on this latter type of issues, but intense advocacy is likely to remain. In the United States, any issue of widespread debate and deeply divided opinion can be referred to as a social issue. The Library of Congress has assembled an extensive list of social issues in the United States, ranging from vast ones like abortion to same-sex marriage to smaller ones like hacking and academic cheating. [11]

Topics that appear to involve advancing a certain positive ideal are often known as causes. A particular cause may be very expansive in nature — for instance, increasing liberty or fixing a broken political system. For instance in 2008, U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama utilized such a meaning when he said, "this was the moment when we tore down barriers that have divided us for too long; when we rallied people of all parties and ages to a common cause." [12] Change.org and Causes are two popular websites that allow people to organize around a common cause.

Topics upon which there is universal agreement that they need to be solved include, for example, human trafficking, poverty, water and sanitation as a human right. [13]

"Social issues" as referred to in the United States also include topics (also known as "causes") intended by their advocates to advance certain ideals (such as equality) include: civil rights, LGBT rights, women's rights, environmentalism, and veganism.

Transnational advocacy

Advocates and advocacy groups represent a wide range of categories and support several issues as listed on worldadvocacy.com. [14] The Advocacy Institute, [15] a US-based global organization, is dedicated to strengthening the capacity of political, social, and economic justice advocates to influence and change public policy. [16]

The phenomenon of globalization draws a special attention to advocacy beyond countries’ borders. The core existence of networks such as World Advocacy or the Advocacy Institute demonstrates the increasing importance of transnational advocacy and international advocacy. Transnational advocacy networks are more likely to emerge around issues where external influence is necessary to ease the communication between internal groups and their own government. Groups of advocates willing to further their mission also tend to promote networks and to meet with their internal counterparts to exchange ideas. [7]

Transnational advocacy is increasingly playing a role in advocacy for migrants rights, and migrant advocacy organizations have strategically called upon governments and international organizations for leverage. [8]

Transnational advocates spend time with local interest groups in order to better understand their views and wishes.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-governmental organization</span> Organization, usually created to aid those in need

A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in humanitarianism or the social sciences; they can also include clubs and associations that provide services to their members and others. NGOs can also be lobby groups for corporations, such as the World Economic Forum. NGOs are distinguished from international and intergovernmental organizations (IOs) in that the latter are more directly involved with sovereign states and their governments.

Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social movement</span> Loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular set of goals

A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and may involve individuals, organizations, or both. Social movements have been described as "organizational structures and strategies that may empower oppressed populations to mount effective challenges and resist the more powerful and advantaged elites". They represent a method of social change from the bottom within nations. On the other hand, some social movements do not aim to make society more egalitarian, but to maintain or amplify existing power relationships. For example, scholars have described fascism as a social movement.

Development communication refers to the use of communication to facilitate social development. Development communication engages stakeholders and policy makers, establishes conducive environments, assesses risks and opportunities and promotes information exchange to create positive social change via sustainable development. Development communication techniques include information dissemination and education, behavior change, social marketing, social mobilization, media advocacy, communication for social change, and community participation.

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

Child advocacy refers to a range of individuals, professionals and advocacy organizations who speak out on the best interests of children. An individual or organization engaging in advocacy typically seeks to protect children's rights which may be abridged or abused in a number of areas.

A non-state actor (NSA) is an individual or organization that has significant political influence but is not allied to any particular country or state.

Gender mainstreaming is the public policy concept of assessing the implications for people of different genders of a planned policy action, including legislation and programmes.

Patient advocacy is a process in health care concerned with advocacy for patients, survivors, and caregivers. The patient advocate may be an individual or an organization, concerned with healthcare standards or with one specific group of disorders. The terms patient advocate and patient advocacy can refer both to individual advocates providing services that organizations also provide, and to organizations whose functions extend to individual patients. Some patient advocates are independent and some work for the organizations that are directly responsible for the patient's care.

Diaspora politics in the United States is the political behavior of transnational diasporas of ethnic groups, their relationship with their ethnic homelands and their host states, as well as their role in inter-ethnic relations. This article describes case studies and theories of political scientists studying diaspora politics within the specific context of the United States. The general study of diaspora politics is part of the broader field of diaspora studies.

<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.

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.

The UNESCO stated “education for sustainable development is a broad task that calls for the full involvement of multiple educational organizations and groups in bureaucracies and civil societies. These include Non-Governmental Organizations or NGOs.

Networked advocacy or net-centric advocacy refers to a specific type of advocacy. While networked advocacy has existed for centuries, it has become significantly more efficacious in recent years due in large part to the widespread availability of the internet, mobile telephones, and related communications technologies that enable users to overcome the transaction costs of collective action.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advocacy evaluation</span>

Advocacy evaluation, also called public policy advocacy design, monitoring, and evaluation, evaluates the progress or outcomes of advocacy, such as changes in public policy.

A cause lawyer, also known as a public interest lawyer or social lawyer, is a lawyer dedicated to the usage of law for the promotion of social change to address a cause. Cause lawyering is commonly described as a practice of "lawyering for the good" or using law to empower members of the weaker layers of society. It may or may not be performed pro bono. Cause lawyering is frequently practiced by individual lawyers or lawyers employed by associations that aim to supply a public service to complement state-provided legal aid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Activism</span> Efforts to make change in society toward a perceived greater good

Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range from mandate building in a community, petitioning elected officials, running or contributing to a political campaign, preferential patronage of businesses, and demonstrative forms of activism like rallies, street marches, strikes, sit-ins, or hunger strikes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strategic litigation</span> Litigation intended to change society

Strategic litigation, also known as impact litigation, is the practice of bringing lawsuits intended to effect societal change. Impact litigation cases may be class action lawsuits or individual claims with broader significance, and may rely on statutory law arguments or on constitutional claims. Such litigation has been widely and successfully used to influence public policy, especially by left-leaning groups, and often attracts significant media attention. One prominent instance of this practice is Brown v. Board of Education.

The Hispanic Federation (HF) is a U.S based non-governmental organization focused on supporting Hispanic communities through local, state, and national advocacy. The Federation was founded in New York City in 1990 by a small group of Latino leaders, establishing initiatives to advocate for the interests of the Hispanic community and has expanded to establish programs, and policies in 16 states. The organization's objective is to empower and advance the Hispanic community primarily through service pillars, membership services, advocacy, and community programs. The Federation has formed relationships with a network of 100 Latino grassroots nonprofits, as well as collaborating with organizations, government officials, and private sector partners to enact systemic change related to a variety of socioeconomic issues for Hispanic communities. The Federation has gained national recognition for its work in areas of education, health, immigration, economic empowerment, civic engagement, environment, and organizational development to strengthening Latino institutions to ultimately increase the quality of life within Hispanic communities.

References

  1. ↑ "Lobbying Versus Advocacy: Legal Definitions". NP Action. Archived from the original on 2 April 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
  2. 1 2 Obar, J.A.; Zube, P.; Lampe, C. (2012). "Advocacy 2.0: An analysis of how advocacy groups in the United States perceive and use social media as tools for facilitating civic engagement and collective action". Journal of Information Policy. 2: 1–25. doi:10.2139/ssrn.1956352. S2CID   145712218. SSRN   1956352.
  3. 1 2 Obar, Jonathan (4 December 2014). "Canadian Advocacy 2.0: A Study of Social Media Use by Social Movement Groups and Activists in Canada". Canadian Journal of Communication. doi: 10.22230/cjc.2014v39n2a2678 . SSRN   2254742.
  4. 1 2 3 Cohen, D.; de la Vega, R.; Watson, G. (2001). Advocacy for social justice. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.
  5. ↑ Loue, S.; Lloyd, L.S.; O'Shea, D.J. (2003). "Community health advocacy". Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 60 (6). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers: [ page needed ]. doi:10.1136/jech.2004.023044. PMC   2563937 . PMID   16698972.
  6. ↑ Asbridge, M. (2004). "Public place restrictions on smoking in Canada: assessing the role of the state, media, science and public health advocacy". Social Science & Medicine. 58 (1): 13–24. doi:10.1016/s0277-9536(03)00154-0. PMID   14572918.
  7. 1 2 Keck, Margaret E.; Sikkink, Kathryn (1998). Activists beyond Borders Advocacy Networks in International Politics. Cornell University Press. p. 16. ISBN   978-0-8014-7129-2.
  8. 1 2 Kremers, Daniel (2014). "Transnational Migrant Advocacy From Japan: Tipping the Scales in the Policy-making Process". Pacific Affairs. 87 (4): 733. doi:10.5509/2014874715 . Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  9. ↑ Ope, J.A.M. (1999). "From the Streets to the Internet: The Cyber-Diffusion of Contention". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 566: 132–143. doi:10.1177/0002716299566001011.
  10. ↑ Eaton, M. (2010). "Manufacturing Community in an Online Activity Organization: The Rhetoric of MoveOn.org's E-mails". Information, Communication & Society. 13 (2): 174–192. doi:10.1080/13691180902890125. S2CID   141971731.
  11. ↑ "Table of contents for Social issues in America". loc.gov.
  12. ↑ "Barack Obama's Caucus Speech". The New York Times. 3 January 2008.
  13. ↑ UNICEF (2010). Advocacy toolkit - A guide to influencing decisions that improve children's lives (PDF). UNICEF. p. 144. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  14. ↑ "World Advocacy - The world's premier source of advocacy groups". worldadvocacy.com.
  15. ↑ "The Advocacy Institute". advocacyinstitute.org.
  16. ↑ Cohen, D.; de la Vega, R.; Watson, G. (2001). Advocacy for social justice. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press. [ page needed ].
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