Advocacy

Why Is It Important? Defined as: “active support of a cause.” Advocacy is necessary to: Draw attention to problems Direct resources to solving the problem Find creative solutions

Steps Gather facts Target the audience (actor) Create an effective plan Establish a timeline Throughout, effective communication is critical

Lobbying Lobbyists can be considered “professional” advocates Lobbyists try to convince lawmakers to vote for or against specific issues Examples: NRA, Individual citizens can also “lobby” by writing letters, e-mails, or even through personal meetings (“grassroots”) Federal (national) lobbyists must register and file quarterly reports Discussion: Is professional lobbying a positive or negative feature of government?

Voting Exercising the right to vote is a basic and very important form of advocacy Citizens can also advocate causes through initiative, referendum and recall Initiative—citizens propose laws by petition Referendum—existing laws or pending legislation goes directly to the voters for final approval/disapproval Recall—allows voters to remove an elected official from office

Registering to Vote Requirements: 18 or older US citizen Residency requirement (usually 30 days) Automatic absentee balloting: http://flathead.mt.gov/election/ Why is voter turn-out so low?

Campaign Finance $$$ is hugely important to political campaigns! Federal Election Commission regulations limit individual campaign contributions “Soft” money—banned in 2002 by Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act However, there are NO LIMITS on independent spending by either individuals (Buckley v. Valeo) OR Corporations (Citizens United v. FEC)