chapter 6
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Becoming and Effective Policy Advocate by Bruce JanssonTRANSCRIPT
©2011, Cengage Learning, Brooks/ Col©2011, Cengage Learning, Brooks/ Cole Publishinge Publishing
Becoming an Effective Becoming an Effective Policy AdvocatePolicy Advocate
Bruce Jansson, University of Southern CaliforniaBruce Jansson, University of Southern California
PowerPoint created byPowerPoint created by
Gretchen Heidemann, MSW, PhD CandidateGretchen Heidemann, MSW, PhD Candidate
University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern California
School of Social WorkSchool of Social Work
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Chapter 6Chapter 6Committing to an Issue: Committing to an Issue:
Building AgendasBuilding Agendas
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Committing to an Issue: Committing to an Issue: Building AgendasBuilding Agendas
Policy advocates’ first challenge is to get a specific policy issue on decision makers’ agendas in agency, community, or legislative settings
They have to use a combination of political, interactional, and analytic skills to place their issues on decision makers’ agendas
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Committing to an Issue: Committing to an Issue: Building AgendasBuilding Agendas
This Chapter discusses:This Chapter discusses:– The importance of agenda-building processes to The importance of agenda-building processes to
policy practicepolicy practice– The three stages of agenda building: diagnosing, The three stages of agenda building: diagnosing,
softening, and activatingsoftening, and activating– How social problems and solutions reach agendasHow social problems and solutions reach agendas– How political processes shape agendasHow political processes shape agendas– How windows of opportunity and policy entrepreneurs How windows of opportunity and policy entrepreneurs
shape agendasshape agendas– How direct-service staff can build agendasHow direct-service staff can build agendas– The challenges policy advocates face in shaping The challenges policy advocates face in shaping
agendasagendas
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How do we know when an issue is on the agenda?
In legislative settings:In legislative settings:– When legislation has been introduced into the
legislative process and referred to a committee, and has attracted the serious attention of some legislators
In agency settings:In agency settings:– When it has become part of the agency’s
deliberations (i.e. a task force or committee to study it has been formed)
In community settings:In community settings:– When community leaders and decision makers have
decided to take it seriously enough to convene meetings to consider solutions
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A few words of caution…A few words of caution…
Placing issues or proposals on agendas does not necessarily have a positive outcome– Many issues never reach the agenda because
opposing groups successfully use tactics to keep them off the agenda
Placement on the agenda does not tell us precisely what kind of proposal or solution will finally emerge– Proposals are finalized in the give-and-take of
deliberations
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Taking the First StepTaking the First Step
Your immediate challenge is to convince others, Your immediate challenge is to convince others, preferably decision makers, that the problem preferably decision makers, that the problem merits their serious attentionmerits their serious attention
You must place the issue on the agenda so that You must place the issue on the agenda so that someone will examine the issue in more detail or someone will examine the issue in more detail or delegate it to others for further explorationdelegate it to others for further exploration
You must try to create favorable conditions, You must try to create favorable conditions, interest, and support for a policy reform at the interest, and support for a policy reform at the outsetoutset
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Why Agenda Building is NeededWhy Agenda Building is Needed
LegislaturesLegislatures– They must limit the number of issues they consider and
must rank them in some order– If they were to debate the thousands of pieces of
legislation introduced each session, they would work to exhaustion and not give careful attention to any of them
– Legislators thus reserve their scarce time for those pieces of legislation they most want to concentrate on
– They avoid issues that appear to give them little or no political advantage in reelection
– However, they are sometimes attracted to issues associated with conflict, if such issues can gain them support among their constituents
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Why Agenda Building is NeededWhy Agenda Building is Needed
AgenciesAgencies– Agency executives have many tasks that occupy their
time, including policy issues– They must ignore or defer many issues, else they
would become exhausted and frustrated – They ignore or defer certain issues because they
would embroil the agency in conflict– Policy advocates must convince them that a specific
policy innovation will help an agency increase its resources and attract more support, rather than diminishing it or having no effect on an agency’s ability to survive
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Why Agenda Building is NeededWhy Agenda Building is Needed
CommunitiesCommunities– Agenda building occurs in community settings as
various issues vie for attention– Advocates may introduce ideas to community groups,
the media, city or town councils, school boards, or other community influentials
– They may draw attention to a policy proposal by getting a story in the mass media, holding a community forum, or staging a protest
– The ultimate goal is to persuade community decision makers to prioritize the issue in their deliberations
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The Agenda-Building Funnel
Policy advocacy must understand the agenda building funnel:– There are many potential issues that exist in
any setting– A specific issue is placed on the decision
agenda when someone or some group prioritizes it for systematic deliberation
– It then enters policy deliberations where it is waylaid, defeated, or enacted
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Challenges in Agenda Building
Challenge 1: Challenge 1: Diagnose Diagnose the contextthe context– Policy advocates must diagnose the context to
identify contextual constraints and opportunities– If they decide that specific policies will be extremely
difficult to change, they must work to change the context or to focus on alternative policy changes
– If they decide that the contextual opportunities far outnumber constraints, they can initiate a policy changing strategy at once
– In some cases, the prognosis will be guarded or unclear
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Challenges in Agenda Building
Challenges 2: Challenges 2: Soften Soften the contextthe context– Policy advocates must make the context more
amenable to a specific policy initiative– They might have conversations with
strategically placed persons, or work with a coalition or advocacy group to pressure decision makers to take interest in a specific issue
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Challenges in Agenda Building
Challenge 3: Challenge 3: ActivateActivate change change– Policy advocates must get a decision maker
or legislator to put an issue on the agenda of the other decision makers in the agency, community, or legislative setting
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The Agenda-Building Funnel
Agenda building is usually a precursor to other policy practice tasks
Even if a proposal is developed first, advocates must return to agenda building to get the issue on decision makers’ agendas
Otherwise they find their issue stymied for lack of interest by them
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The Agenda-Building Funnel
Prior to the writings of John Kingdon, many people ignored the agenda-building taskThey conveyed that policy reforms magically appear with no prior work by policy practitionersRationalists assumed that decision makers placed issues on agendas only when they received technical reports or data that recommended a specific changeIncrementalists assumed that administrators and legislators only introduced modest changes in existing policies in response to complaints or pressures
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The Agenda-Building Funnel
Yet others promoted the garbage can theory of agenda building– Particularly in agency settings, most policy
problems and solutions remain in a state of limbo—a figurative garbage can—until they are placed on the agendas of decision makers at a later point in time
– Myriad problems and solutions also exist in the “garbage cans” of legislatures
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The Agenda-Building Funnel
Agenda building is a precursor to actual deliberationsIt gets specific issues or policies on the table to be followed by actual deliberations where they are processed by committees and legislaturesWhat is actually enacted or approved is only a small fraction of the issues and policies that are proposed
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The Diagnosing StageThe Diagnosing Stage
When diagnosing the context, policy advocates must analyze: – streams of problems and solutions– recent professional decisions and trends– political realities
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The Diagnosing StageThe Diagnosing Stage
Streams of problems and solutionsStreams of problems and solutions– Policy advocates must consider the kinds of problems
and solutions that have already been considered in a setting
– By doing so, they discover where their issue fits into this larger picture, and a better sense of their issue’s prognosis
– They can examine developments in an agency or community during recent years to see that a problem stream exists
– A stream of solutions also exists in agency, community, and legislative settings
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The Diagnosing StageThe Diagnosing Stage
Solutions can be classified into 3 groups:Solutions can be classified into 3 groups:1. Specific programs
– Ex: Interventions to help children, single mothers, or older people
2. Those that aim to correct institutional problems– Ex: Financing a program, changing an agency’s fee
structure, or enhancing collaboration to serve a specific client group
3. Methods of making decisionsEx: Setting up a task force, establishing a committee, or organizing an interagency planning committee
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The Diagnosing StageThe Diagnosing Stage
Recent Professional Developments and TrendsRecent Professional Developments and Trends – Fads and trends can powerfully shape the prognosis
of a policy reformEx: A push in the 1990s for collaboration, recent promotion of evidence-based practices
– They can be discerned by examining professional journals, talking with professionals, and analyzing the kinds of innovations that funders prioritize
– Problem and solution streams exist in a cultural context whether in nations or in specific settings
– It is important to be familiar with the culture of specific settings to better understand the kinds of innovations that are relatively feasible in them
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The Diagnosing StageThe Diagnosing Stage
Political RealitiesPolitical Realities– Political developments powerfully influence whether
specific issues will be placed on policy agendas– Policy advocates need to consider the viewpoint of
important officials by finding out what position they have taken on similar issues or reforms in the past
– They also need to consider court rulings that are germane to their issue
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The Diagnosing StageThe Diagnosing Stage
Political realitiesPolitical realities– In agency settings, they must consider many factors
that shape the prognosis of a specific reform, such as: Whether it is consonant with the mission statementThe state of the budgetFunder interestThe position of accrediting bodies
– In communities they must consider the viewpoints ofCommunity leadersThe public Mass media
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The Diagnosing StageThe Diagnosing Stage
Factors that suggest when a specific policy innovation will be difficult to achieve:– The sheer magnitude of the proposed policy change – Whether the issue is already politicized – Whether persons with considerable power believe
that specific policy change will harm their economic, professional, or political self-interest
– Whether a specific reform will be expensive or difficult to implement
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The Softening StageThe Softening Stage
Policy advocates can attempt to enhance the prognosis of a policy reform even before it enters policy deliberations by: – working in problem and solution streams– building political support
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The Softening StageThe Softening Stage
Working in problem and solution streams– Those who want decision makers to take their
problem seriously have to convince them that it is a problem and not merely a condition
– A problem poses a threat or danger to someone, whether a group in the population, an agency, or politicians
– Problems are more likely to be viewed as important because it is believed that someone will suffer dire consequences if it is not addressed
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The Softening StageThe Softening Stage
How do we convince other people that How do we convince other people that certain conditions are problems?certain conditions are problems?
1. Data– to argue that a condition is serious in its absolute
numbers, that some subset of the population is afflicted far more than other portions of the population, or that the problem is becoming steadily worse
– to demonstrate that a specific social problem has important implications that extend beyond a specific issue or population
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The Softening StageThe Softening Stage
How do we convince other people that certain How do we convince other people that certain conditions are problems?conditions are problems?
2. Language / Terminology– use words such as crisis to describe a condition– refer to a social program as “investing” in human
needs rather than merely “spending” resources
3. Potential for successdemonstrate that a problem is not hopeless and can be amelioratedfind successful pilot projects that demonstrate that specific reforms will yield positive outcomes
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The Softening StageThe Softening Stage
How do we convince other people that certain How do we convince other people that certain conditions are problems?conditions are problems?
4. Appeal to Values– such as the ethical principles of beneficence, social
justice, and fairness – illustrate with specific case studies of persons who
suffer from problems
5. State problems in relatively broad terms– present problems in general terms– frame them as important to significant segments of
legislators’ constituencies
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The Softening StageThe Softening Stage
How do we convince other people that certain How do we convince other people that certain conditions are problems?conditions are problems?
6. Cost-efficiency– try to show that a policy will avert subsequent costly problems
7. Preventioncan be a double-edged sword most people prefer preventing a problem to fixing it afterwardbut decision makers often view prevention negativelythey often want to prioritize services for those already afflicted with a problem rather than to fund preventionadvocates need to find evidence that they can successfully avert problems when proposing a policy
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The Softening StageThe Softening Stage
Advocates need to anticipate likely Advocates need to anticipate likely objections or opposition to a specific policy objections or opposition to a specific policy so they can diminish or rebut themso they can diminish or rebut themAs they successfully counter objections, As they successfully counter objections, they soften the context, making it easier they soften the context, making it easier not only to get an issue placed on the not only to get an issue placed on the agenda but to get a reform enactedagenda but to get a reform enactedThe media can serve as an important The media can serve as an important educational tooleducational tool
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The Softening StageThe Softening Stage
Only certain solutions make it to agency or Only certain solutions make it to agency or legislative agendaslegislative agendasDecision makers will examine the fiscal, Decision makers will examine the fiscal, administrative, and political feasibility of those administrative, and political feasibility of those solutionssolutionsThey will also judge a solution’s likely They will also judge a solution’s likely effectiveness and technical meritseffectiveness and technical meritsPolicy advocates must try to place a solution in a Policy advocates must try to place a solution in a favorable light if they want it to get onto decision favorable light if they want it to get onto decision makers’ agendasmakers’ agendas
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The Softening StageThe Softening Stage
Political RealitiesPolitical Realities– Soften the context by diminishing opposition
talk with persons in strategic positions to educate them about the need for a specific reformdirectly address their concerns or objectionscorrect erroneous information
– Construct a “big tent” with many perspectives, even divergent ones
be open to input from a variety of peoplehave good listening skills to understand various POVsbe willing to compromise
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The Activating StageThe Activating Stage
The use of tactics (such as timing, coupling, negotiating, assembling early sponsors and supporters, and routing) to pull an issue into the decision funnel
Is usually done by a policy entrepreneur– a decision maker, legislator, chairperson,
executive, or other person who has the power to pull an issue onto an agenda so that it will receive serious consideration
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The Activating StageThe Activating Stage
Timing and Windows of Opportunity – Relatively brief moments when “the time is
ripe” for specific initiatives– Key events can sensitize legislators to a
specific issueEx: Sept. 11th, Hurricane Katrina, the results of an investigation, the shift in majority control from one party to another, annual budget preparations, a new head of government or new Executive Director
– Windows of opportunity often close rapidly
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The Activating StageThe Activating Stage
Timing and Windows of OpportunityTiming and Windows of Opportunity– In strategizing, policy advocates should:In strategizing, policy advocates should:
prepare for an opportunity by analyzing an issue or problem
recognize when a window of opportunity augurs well for it
seize the moment by seeking support for placing it on the decision agenda
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The Activating StageThe Activating Stage
CouplingCoupling– Making imaginative connections between the
solution, problem, and political streamsEx: Connecting a stimulus package with other social problems such as homelessness
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The Activating StageThe Activating Stage
Framing and Finding TitlesFraming and Finding Titles– Putting a twist on proposals to make them
appealing to decision makersEx: portray a benefit as an earned benefit to make it difficult for opponents to argue that it is a welfare benefit
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The Activating StageThe Activating Stage
Negotiating and BargainingNegotiating and Bargaining– Accommodating different points of view, even
before an issue appears on the decision agenda
– Try to create a win-win atmosphere that allows different people and factions to believe they will each have a piece of the action
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The Activating StageThe Activating Stage
Assembling Early Sponsors and Assembling Early Sponsors and SupportersSupporters
– Enlisting people to sponsor a legislative proposal by placing their names on it
– They should be powerful politicians who also represent an array of perspectives
– Solicit their advice and make them part of the planning process
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The Activating StageThe Activating Stage
RoutingRouting– Finding a home base for an issue by routing it
to decision makers who want to resolve it in ways that are acceptable
– This involves deciding which committee should get jurisdiction
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The Activating StageThe Activating Stage
Media CoverageMedia Coverage
– Getting timely coverage of proposals– Using the media to get stories about activities
printed or placed on television
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Can Direct-Service Staff Help to Can Direct-Service Staff Help to Build Agendas?Build Agendas?
Legislators and high-level agency staff are best situated to assume pivotal roles in building agendas
However, direct-service staff can participate in agenda building in both agency and legislative settings
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Can Direct-Service Staff Help to Can Direct-Service Staff Help to Build Agendas?Build Agendas?
Direct-Service Staff can:Direct-Service Staff can:– Work within their agencies to locate
unaddressed or poorly addressed community needs
– Read professional literature and find evidence-based practices that could be (but are not) implemented in specific settings
– Join coalitions and advocacy groups that already exist in the community and lend them volunteer and other support
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Can Direct-Service Staff Help to Can Direct-Service Staff Help to Build Agendas?Build Agendas?
Direct-Service Staff can also:Direct-Service Staff can also:– Move beyond their agencies into the broader policy
world– Talk with legislative aides about specific unaddressed
or poorly addressed issues that they have seen – Encourage their clients to call high-level officials or
help them draft letters to these officials– Ask whether voter registration projects can be
organized by their agency – Search for policy entrepreneurs who can place a
specific issue on their agency’s or a legislature’s agenda
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Policy Advocacy for Powerless Policy Advocacy for Powerless Populations and Unpopular IssuesPopulations and Unpopular Issues
The agenda building process is often The agenda building process is often skewed against unpopular issues and skewed against unpopular issues and powerless groupspowerless groups
Groups that plug away for unpopular Groups that plug away for unpopular issues and populations may be laying the issues and populations may be laying the groundwork for subsequent policy groundwork for subsequent policy changeschanges
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Policy Advocacy for Powerless Policy Advocacy for Powerless Populations and Unpopular IssuesPopulations and Unpopular IssuesSome policy advocates conclude at times that Some policy advocates conclude at times that they cannot secure policy initiatives working they cannot secure policy initiatives working solely through conventional channelssolely through conventional channels– Ex: Abolitionists, suffragettes, civil rights advocates
ProtestsProtests– Can sometimes harden the positions of public officials
against the sought reforms– However, they can also get decision makers to pay
attention, and draw public awareness to the issue
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Electoral ProcessesElectoral Processes
Agenda building often takes place within Agenda building often takes place within electoral politics electoral politics
Politicians, parties, and activists try to find issues Politicians, parties, and activists try to find issues that:that:– distinguish them from their opposition– appeal to their natural constituencies as well as to
swing voters– divide the opposing party (i.e. wedge issues)– generate support for themselves as compared to their
opponents
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Electoral ProcessesElectoral Processes
Ideology assumes a key role in the Ideology assumes a key role in the process of agenda buildingprocess of agenda building – The two major parties have somewhat
different bases of political support– They gravitate toward somewhat different
positions on issues– However, they often battle for the center,
seeking policies that will appeal to centrist voters so they can gain a winning edge
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Developing Links with Advocacy Developing Links with Advocacy GroupsGroups
Policy advocates should consider Policy advocates should consider connecting with an established advocacy connecting with an established advocacy groupgroup
Examples:Examples:– Join a local group or a local chapter of a
national group, such as NASW – Campaign for politicians they believe will put
certain issues on policy agendas
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Multiple Skills for Agenda BuildingMultiple Skills for Agenda Building
Policy advocates use all four skills when they try Policy advocates use all four skills when they try to influence policy agendasto influence policy agendas– Political skills to analyze and engage in the political
stream– Analytic skills to develop and use data in the problem
and solution streams– Interactional skills to help proposals reach policy
deliberations, persuade people to take specific problems seriously, participate on committees and task forces, and organize coalitions
– Value-clarifying skills to decide whether to invest energy in promoting an issue in the first place, and to decide how to frame it