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Astroturfing is the practice of masking the sponsors of a message or organization to make it appear as though it originates from and is supported by grassroots participants. It is a practice intended to give the statements or organizations credibility by withholding information about the source's financial connection. The term astroturfing is derived from AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to resemble natural grass, as a play on the word "grassroots". The implication behind the use of the term is that instead of a "true" or "natural" grassroots effort behind the activity in question, there is a "fake" or "artificial" appearance of support.
A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at the local, regional, national or international level. Grassroots movements are associated with bottom-up, rather than top-down decision making, and are sometimes considered more natural or spontaneous than more traditional power structures.
Ong Teng Cheong was a Singaporean architect, union leader and politician who served as the fifth president of Singapore between 1993 and 1999. He was the first president in Singapore's history to be directly elected by popular vote.
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a gun rights organization in the United States. It makes efforts to differentiate itself from the larger National Rifle Association (NRA) and has publicly criticized the NRA on multiple occasions for what it considers to be compromising on gun rights.
The wise use movement in the United States is a loose-knit coalition of groups promoting the expansion of private property rights and reduction of government regulation of publicly held property. This includes advocacy of expanded use by commercial and public interests, seeking increased access to public lands, and often opposition to government intervention. Wise use proponents describe human use of the environment as "stewardship of the land, the water and the air" for the benefit of human beings. The wise use movement arose from opposition to the mainstream environmental movement, claiming it to be radical.
A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy groups, or corporations. Front organizations can act for the parent group without the actions being attributed to the parent group, thereby allowing them to hide certain activities from the authorities or the public.
Edward Harrison Crane is an American libertarian and co-founder of the Cato Institute. He served as its president until October 1, 2012.
Save Our Species Alliance, Inc. (SOSA) was an American political group, established in December 2004, which is critical of the Endangered Species Act and other environmental legislation. It has been criticized by environmentalists as a front group for wealthy cattle and timber interests which consider Federal environmental legislation an impediment to profit. The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen says that by attempting to give the appearance of a grassroots organization, the Save Our Species Alliance web site is an example of Astroturfing.
The Draft Mark Warner for President committee was an effort to promote the candidacy of former Governor of Virginia Mark Warner. It was founded the day after the 2004 presidential election by Democratic Party activist Eddie Ratliff of Virginia. On October 23, 2007, the Draft Warner for President Committee received a letter from the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) in response to the committee's declaration of intent to cease operations, dated October 2, 2007, and was allowed to terminate its affairs and cease filing with the FEC. Warner had announced his intent to become a Senate candidate prior to the committee's letter to the FEC.
James Prather Jontz was an American politician who represented the Indiana's 5th congressional district, comprising rural north central Indiana, centering on Kokomo and Logansport. A Democrat, he served in the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993. He was previously a member of the Indiana General Assembly. As of 2020, he was the last Democrat to represent his district in Congress.
Ann C. Frank Lewis is a leading American Democratic Party strategist and communicator. Lewis served as White House Communications Director in the Clinton administration and in senior roles under Hillary Clinton. She is currently the co-chair of the Democratic Majority for Israel.
Scott Jennings is an American writer and conservative commentator. He is an on-air contributor for CNN, and writes for CNN.com, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Times.
Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. is a for-profit corporation that does strategic consulting, and fund raising for humanitarian and progressive causes and political organizations. Grassroots Campaigns employs thousands of workers to generate small-donor contributions, increase visibility, and expand the membership base for a number of progressive groups, issues, and campaigns. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company was founded in December 2003 by a small team of experienced organizers who specialized in grassroots-level political and public interest organizing with groups like the Public Interest Research Group However, since its founding, it has consistently faced accusations of anti-union activity at odds with its stated progressive roots.
Brad Woodhouse is an American Democratic Party activist who currently serves as the president of Protect Our Care, a group seeking to protect the Affordable Care Act. He also serves as co-chair of the Health Care Voter campaign. He is the former president of the now-defunct liberal/progressive advocacy group Americans United for Change. He has also served as the president of Democratic super PACs American Bridge 21st Century and Correct the Record. He is the former communications director of the United States Democratic National Committee.
The Worldwide LaRouche Youth Movement and the LaRouche Political Action Committee are part of the political organization of controversial American political figure Lyndon LaRouche. The LYM's "war room" is in Leesburg, Virginia, also the headquarters of LPAC. The LaRouche Youth Movement describes itself as an international political movement of young adults, led by Lyndon LaRouche, who promote the revival of classical humanist thought, organize politically to establish a new world economic system based on the power of human creativity to increase the power of the human individual in relation to the universe, and fight for a physical economy which can promote the general welfare of humanity, to develop and move towards better living conditions.
Philip David Radford is an American activist who served as the executive director of Greenpeace USA. He is the founder and President of Progressive Power Lab, an organization that incubates companies and non-profits that build capacity for progressive organizations, including a donor advisory organization Champion.us, the Progressive Multiplier Fund and Membership Drive. Radford is a co-founder of the Democracy Initiative, was founder and executive director of Power Shift, and is a board member of the Mertz Gilmore Foundation. He has a background in grassroots organizing, corporate social responsibility, climate change, and clean energy.
BIPAC is a bi-partisan organization that assists employers and employees to engage in the political process. The goal is to elect "business friendly" candidates. Founded in 1963 it is one of the first PACs in America. As a PAC, it solicits donations from members and the general public.
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.
Ready PAC, formerly Ready for Hillary, was a super PAC created to draft Hillary Clinton for the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Ready for Hillary focused on grassroots organizing and did not engage in television advertising. The PAC was founded by Adam Parkhomenko and Allida Black.
The #WalkAway campaign is a social-media campaign that was launched ahead of the United States 2018 mid-term elections with the stated purpose of encouraging liberals to leave the Democratic Party. The campaign has been organizing events in support of Donald Trump. It was noted and criticized for using astroturfing methods of gathering support, by counterfeiting a popular movement of people who have left the party.
References
- ↑ "PAC/WEST Communications: Tim Wigley". www.pacwestcom.com. Archived from the original on March 14, 2007.
- ↑ PAC/WEST Communications: Tim Wigley Archived September 1, 2004, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Organizing Astroturf: Evidence Shows Bogus Grassroots Groups Hijack the Political Debate; Need for Grassroots Lobbying Disclosure Requirements Public Citizen, Cleanupwashington.org, January 2007. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved 2006-03-28.
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