Description
Book SynopsisPolicy advocacy is an increasingly important function of many nonprofit organizations, as they seek broad social changes in their concerning issues. Their advocacy practices, however, have often been guided by their own past experiences, anecdotes from peer networks, and consultant advice. Most of their practices have largely escaped empirical and theoretical grounding that could better root their work in established theories of policy change. The first book of its kind, Nonprofits in Policy Advocacy bridges this gap by connecting real practices of on-the-ground policy advocates with the burgeoning academic literature in policy studies. In the process, it empirically identifies six distinct policy advocacy strategies, and their accompanying tactics, used by nonprofits. Case studies tell the stories of how advocates apply these strategies in a wide variety of issues including civil rights, criminal justice, education, energy, environment, public health, public infrastructure, and youth. This book will appeal to both practitioners and academicians, as each gains insights into the other’s views of policy change and the actions that produce it.
Trade Review“Sheldon Gen and Amy Conley Wright have written both a solid academic work, which includes a great deal of original research, and a valuable supplementary text for classroom use. … they also frame advocacy behavior within the theories of public policy scholarship, making Nonprofits in Policy Advocacy a useful supplementary text for graduate classes in nonprofit management or advocacy, but equally valuable for graduate or upper level undergraduate public policy classes, as well as political science classes that focus on interest groups, lobbying, and advocacy.” (Shelly Arsneault, Nonprofit Policy Forum, May 7, 2021)
Table of Contents1. Nonprofit Advocacy in the United States
- Nonprofit advocacy in the context of American public policy
- Political context of policy advocacy
- Policy advocacy by nonprofit organizations in the U.S.: Scope and scale
- Discussions
- References
2. Tactics and Strategies
- A menu of tactics for policy advocacy
- Strategies of policy advocacy organizations
- Discussions
- References
3. Public Lobbying
- The public lobbying stratefgy
- Books not bars
- "Power grab"
- Discussions
- References
4. Institutional Partnership
- The institutional partnership strategy
- Over-incarceration
- Foster youth emancipation
- Discussions
- References
5. Inside-Outside
- The inside-outside strategy
- Banning plastic bags
- Evaluating teacher performance
- Raising the tobacco tax
- Discussions
- References
6. Direct Reform
- The direct reform strategy
- Banning trans fats
- Closing coal-fired power plants
- Discussions
- References
7. Indirect Pressure
- The indirect pressure strategy
- Enhancing local parks
- Discussions
- References
8. Popular Power
- The popular power strategy
- Bring Our War $$ Home
- Parent engagement in public schools
- Discussions
- References
9. Considerations for Strategic Policy Advocacy
- Creative and strategic policy advocacy
- The Challenges of Policy Advocacy
- Measuring and evaluating advocacy performance
- Conclusion
- Discussions
- References
Appendix 1. Derivation of the composite logic model of policy advocacyAppendix 2. Methods
- Q-methodology
- Survey method
- References
