Lobbying for Social Change

Description

This step-by-step guide to lobbying covers it all—from the basics for beginners to specific techniques for experienced lobbyists “You and I may never achieve major public office, but we do not need to in order to affect public policy.” —Author Willard C. Richan To effect social change, any lobbyist’s case must be presented with skill, knowledge, and confidence.... Read more

This step-by-step guide to lobbying covers it all—from the basics for beginners to specific techniques for experienced lobbyists

“You and I may never achieve major public office, but we do not need to in order to affect public policy.”
—Author Willard C. Richan

To effect social change, any lobbyist’s case must be presented with skill, knowledge, and confidence. This reader-friendly book shows the way. It assumes no prior knowledge of the subject and provides the nuts and bolts of public policy advocacy (lobbying) in non-technical language. Lobbying for Social Change, Third Edition is organized in a way that easily lends itself to use in the classroom as well as by individual or group advocates, and it is packed with clearly presented case material that illustrates the lobbying process in action. This new edition provides updated case material, expanded coverage of electronic media, and two new chapters; one focusing on direct action for fundamental change, and the other presenting a case history of a grassroots lobbying campaign.

Part I of Lobbying for Social Change, Third Edition, entitled “The Basics,” will show you how to:

assess your political resources
set an agenda for action
understand whom to lobby—and how to gauge their power, motivation, and ability to effect or impede social change
gather and use evidence to support your position

Part II, “Practical Applications,” gives you nuts-and-bolts information about how lobbying is done. You’ll learn:

how to work directly with policymakers-face-to-face, by mail, by telephone, etc.
effective rules for to testifying in a public hearing
how to make use of the mass media-writing news releases, participating in panel discussions, what to do when being interviewed (and how to increase your chances of being a repeat guest on talk and news shows), and how to effectively work with print and electronic media, including the Internet
ways to take on the system through direct action

Part III, “Case History of a Grassroots Lobbying Campaign,” takes you inside an actual campaign (in this case, to amend the impending—at the time—welfare reform bill). You’ll see how a group of five Philadelphia area social workers and one feminist activist started the Delaware County Coalition to Save Our Safety Net—a coalition that would make a substantial impact on the specifics of welfare in the state of Pennsylvania.

This new edition of the classic manual for lobbyists is packed with vital information for lobbying in the new millennium. We urge you to consider making it a part of your personal or teaching collection today! Read less

Preface to the Third Edition
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Context
The Policy Cycle
Taking One Step at a Time
PART I: BASIC STEPS
Chapter 1. Assessing Your Strengths and Limitations
Appreciating Your Strengths
Being Realistic About Limitations
Points to Remember
Chapter 2. Setting the Agenda
Rule 1: Know Your Agenda
Rule 2: Decide Between Incremental and Fundamental Change Goals
Rule 3: Be Clear About Your Priorities
Rule 4: Develop Fallback Positions
An Exercise in Agenda Setting
Points to Remember
Chapter 3. Understanding Policymakers
Picking the Right Target
What Makes Policymakers Tick?
Critical Factor: How the Policymaker Defines the Problem
An Exercise in Targeting
Points to Remember
Chapter 4. Preparing the Case
Modifying the Audience’s Definition of the Situation
Strategies of Argument with Four Kinds of Audiences
The Policy Brief
Writing a Brief About Abortion
Now You Try Planning a Brief
Points to Remember
Chapter 5. Gathering Evidence
Kinds of Evidence
The Quality of Evidence: Whom and What Can You Trust?
Conducting the Search
PART II: PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Chapter 6. Lobbying One-on-One
Lobbying an Elected Representative
Face-to-Face Meetings
Group Visits
Writing Letters
Lobbying by Telephone
Other Types of Lobbying
Lobbying Appointed Officials
Points to Remember
Chapter 7. Testifying in a Hearing
Your Agenda and Theirs
Audiences
Preparing Testimony
Getting Ready to Testify
Giving Testimony
Fielding Questions in a Public Hearing
Points to Remember
Chapter 8. Using the Mass Media
Traditional Media
Seeing the World Through the Printed Page
Radio: The Ever-Present Voice
Taming the One-Eyed Monster
Electronic Media
Points to Remember
Chapter 9. Taking On the System Through Direct Action
The Importance of Advance Preparation
Good Cop, Bad Cop
Direct Action in the Information Age
The Ultimate Loss of Control
Points to Remember
PART III: CASE HISTORY OF A GRASSROOTS LOBBYING CAMPAIGN
Chapter 10. “Duck Sauce”: Reforming Welfare Reform
Building an Organization
Setting the Agenda
Broadening the Base
The Action Phase
The Beginning of the End for DCCSOS
Chapter 11. Lessons Learned
Bibliography
Index
Reference Notes Included

Author(s)

Biography

Willard C. Richan

Lobbying for Social Change

Description

Table of Contents

Author(s)

Biography

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