1st Edition
Persuading Local Government How to Organize and Implement Effective Advocacy Campaigns
Section I: The Importance of Citizen Advocacy
1. You Do Count: Influencing Local Government
2. Stirring the Pot: Case Studies of Citizen Activism in Local Government
3. Knowing Who is in Charge and What They Think: Targeting an Advocacy Message
Section II: Preparation
4. Beginning the Battle: Preparing for an Advocacy Campaign
5. Considerations Before Advocating: Reflecting on Your Own Role
6. The Road Map to Success: Understanding How Decisions Get Made and Whom to Persuade
7. You Are a Researcher: Obtaining and Interpreting Background Information
8. Hidden Treasurers in City Records: Information from and about the City
Section III: Understanding How Policies and Decisions Come About
9. The Road Map You Need: Understanding the Structure of Local Governments
10. The Route Taken: Paths of Decision for Municipal Policies
Section IV: Working on and Presenting Your Message
11. The Rules of the Game: What Happens at the Different Venues at Which You Advocate
12. Being an Orator: Thinking How to Structure What You Will Say
13. Getting to the Telling Point: Advice About Wording Your Advocacy Message
14. Poignant Phrases: Ways of Wording Oral and Written Presentations
Concluding Thoughts
15. Empowered Citizens: Concluding Thoughts on Being an Advocate
Biography
Herbert J. Rubin is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Northern Illinois University, USA. He is the author of Advocacy for Social Change: Coalitions and the Organizations That Lead Them and Renewing Hope within Neighborhoods of Despair: The Community-Based Development Model, and the co-author of Community Organizing and Development. He has served on and chaired numerous city committees and frequently advocates with city hall.
