Module 7 (10)
- Plan your lobbying strategically – including a mix of different ways of lobbying using a range of communications
- Develop a clear understanding of legislative processes
- Pay attention to timing
- Focus for maximum impact
- Be clear about your primary ‘ask’
- Demonstrate both the problem and possible solutions
- Develop the most effective arguments to use, based on your assessment of what will influence your target
- Work on gaining policy influence – building your support base and weakening opposition
- There is further advice on effective communications in Module 6 on ‘Media and Communications’.
Websites
World Animal Net (WAN) Animal Protection Society Resources: Lobbying
Policy Engagement: How Civil Society Can be More Effective
Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest
The Democracy Centre – Free Advocacy Materials
Hearts and Minds – Effective Lobbying
Books
Politico's Guide to Political Lobbying
By: Charles Miller
Publisher: Politico's Publishing
ISBN: 1902301250
The Nonprofit Lobbying Guide: Advocating Your Cause-and Getting Results
By: Smucker
Publisher: Jossey Bass Wiley
ISBN: 1555423744
So You Want to Be a Lobbyist? Guide to the World of Political Lobbying
By: Corinne Souza, Iain Dale
Publisher: Politico's Publishing
ISBN: 1902301005
Amnesty International Handbook
Publisher: Amnesty International UK
ISBN: 0862102057
European Lobbying Guide: A Guide on Whom and How to Lobby
By: Bryan Cassidy
Publisher: Thorogood
ISBN: 1854181440
The lobbyist needs to:
- Know the issue well
- Know the political context (structures, processes and systems)
- Have good interpersonal and communication skills
A lobbyist should also have the right attitude:
- Unswerving belief in your cause
- Loyalty to your organization or coalition/alliance
- Optimism and perseverance
- Always be a tough opponent – you will not be respected for giving in too readily!
- Persuasive, not argumentative
- Understand opponents’ views and position, but don’t be won over!
- Never concede anything too early in negotiations
Lobbying is a combination of psychology and legal/political knowledge. You need to know the legislation and the policy context. But equally important is to know the people involved – both their positions and power bases, and their personal attributes.
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Advocacy Tool Tool 37. Top Tips for Lobbying |
Lobbying Errors
Some corporate lobbyists have given lobbying a bad reputation. They take any opportunity to speak to the media, and get ‘profile’ even if they do not know the real facts. They like to spend time with major ‘figureheads’, and like to ‘wine and dine’. But often they do not know the policy issue in any depth.
There are three main errors in NGO lobbying:
Charles Miller of Charles Miller Associates
- 'Speak First, Think Later'
- Knowing 'People in High Places'
- 'Eating Your Way Out of Trouble
We believe that effective lobbying for animal welfare NGOs is not about status and influence: it is about changing the ‘hearts and minds’ of policy makers – using information, communication, public pressure and engagement - to benefit animal welfare.
Charles Miller’s observation highlights the need for research – and this would include not only the issue in question, but also political structures, processes and systems.
Timing is a vital element of lobbying strategy. Key questions include:
- What is the timing for the legislative process?
- Committee dates?
- Meetings when decisions are taken?
- Elections might mess up the schedule, or be an opportunity?
- Government sittings/sessions?
- Recesses and holidays?
You also need to focus for maximum impact. This means having just one agreed priority at any time (which should take most of your time and effort).
Introduction
Build Your Support Base
Neutralize Your Opposition
Use Effective Arguments
Understanding and Exploiting Weaknesses
Understand and Counter Prejudices
Introduction
Two tried and tested ways of gaining policy influence are to:
- Build up your support base - gather allies
- Neutralize your opposition - weaken your opposition (strategically or tactically)
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Advocacy Tool Tool 9. Force Field Analysis |
Build Your Support Base
Formal linkages with other organizations (coalitions, networks and alliances) are dealt with in Module 4 – Networking & Alliances - but this is not the only way to increase your support base. Other options are to:
- Obtain messages of support from influential organizations and individuals
- Persuade other organizations and influential individuals to take on board your issue (even if this is not their primary issue, and they are not interested in joint advocacy)
- Persuade donors (or international organizations) to raise your issue in negotiations with decision makers
It is often easier to obtain this sort of support if your issue is high profile or popular. Media coverage can raise its profile, and thus its support base. Celebrities and high profile individuals can be keen to be associated with the ‘issues of the day’, as this will help their popularity.
Networks and alliances are usually formed from like-minded organizations, but unusual allies can also be useful to an advocacy campaign. Whilst motivations for support may differ, it will help your cause if more organizations are pressing for the same outcomes. For example, national slaughterhouses may support a campaign to ban the export of live animals. Think outside the box when considering potential allies – but beware of any potential risk to your reputation through ‘unholy alliances’.
Neutralize Your Opposition
As regards neutralizing your opposition, this entails knowing them well, in particular: their beliefs, motivations, weaknesses and limitations. You can neutralize by:
- Exposing falsehoods (destroying arguments)
- Refuting their points (answering arguments)
Both of these can be done verbally or practically (e.g. by using pilot studies).
You can also make the opposition a target of your advocacy, trying to convert them to your solutions.
Use Effective Arguments
A range of arguments can be used in support of different issues e.g.:
- Altruistic: For the sake of those affected
- Moral/ethical: It is morally right
- International acceptance: As above, but playing on a country's desire for international acceptance and regard (particularly useful when there are international conventions or standards)
- Democracy: The 'people want it'
- Protecting the country's 'heritage': For example, as regards the protection of indigenous animals, or their habitats
- Social/humanistic: Failure to act could have an adverse impact upon society, sectors of society, or the country’s individuals
- Public health: protecting public or animal health
- Ownership/responsibility: Encouraging responsibility
- Economic: Economic costs of inaction
NB. It is often the case that whilst the higher arguments hold more moral force, the lower arguments hold more sway (as they directly affect vested interests). Influence can be gained through understanding these different arguments, and being able to use them effectively.
Understanding and Exploiting Weaknesses
When you research your targets and opposition you will come across weaknesses (personal or role) that can be strategically exploited in order to gain influence. These might include:
- Elected politicians – Ego and vanity (play on their desire for profile, publicity and votes)
- Politicians aides – Intrigue and influence (use their skill at politics and influencing)
- Bureaucrats – Lethargy/laziness (use their desire to save work and effort)
- Opposition – The ‘ethical watchdog’ (use their role of watching and exposing government)
Of course, these are simple generalizations. It is always preferable to know individuals, rather than making broad assumptions.
As far as political influence is concerned, remember that election time is ‘crazy season’! Prospective politicians will agree to much more, if they feel it will be beneficial to their election campaign. But consider very carefully before you make deals with politicians. You need to be committed to your cause for the long-term, and with credibility. You will need to be sure that any short-term deals do not bring risks to your work.
Understand and Counter Prejudices
You will come across various prejudices as you try to influence others on your issue. These may include the following:
- Your issue seen as marginal issue
- Your issue seen as low priority (to be tackled ‘later’)
- Your issue seen as a luxury consideration
Possible ways to overcome/answer these prejudices are:
- Opinion surveys (polls) to demonstrate popular support
- Show that the situation can improve without substantial cost
- Show the potential costs of inactivity
- Refer to neighboring countries where the issue has been addressed – use national pride (‘Our country is lagging behind’)
The advice given in this course will help you to build policy influence. You need influence in order to build political will in favor of policy change. Whilst evidence is important to establishing your credibility, there is more to influence than evidence. You need to establish what is important to the battle for influence in your own country. Then you can use your resources to achieve the maximum influence. There has been some interesting generic research in this field; and this may also help you in this task.
The Top ‘Ways in Which Organisations Seek to Influence Policy’ (Kornsweig et al. 2006) are said to be:
- Networking with other organizations
- Providing training to key people
- Commenting on draft policy documents
- Organizing policy seminars
- Publications on policy issues
- Providing services
- Articles in the media
- Pilots of alternative policy approaches
- Insider lobbying
- Websites
- Newsletter to policymakers
- Work on projects commissioned by policymakers
(This is not a comprehensive list)
For more on this see Kornsweig 2006
Another important avenue of policy influence is the building of important and influential allies.
In terms of personal strengths relevant to influencing policy, the following are very important:
- Being an effective communicator: to find common ground and communicate well with various audiences (including coalitions and partners, as well as policy targets)
- Creativity: to identify new opportunities and approaches, and design innovative campaigns
- Flexibility: to cope with rapidly changing circumstances
- Pragmatism and tolerance: to understand allies and opponents and negotiate agreements
- Legitimacy: credibility and trustworthiness, to be considered as an important player in the policy arena
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Tip: Lobbying is best designed and carried out by nationals of a country with a good political understanding. |
Working with Policymakers ("Insider Advocacy")
Consultations
Face to Face Meetings
Presentations
Conferences, Seminars, Public Meetings etc.
International Conferences
Demonstrating the Problem or Possible Solutions
Legal Challenges
Written and Verbal Representations
There are various ways of lobbying: trying to influence policy-makers from the inside (working together with them on your issue), consultations, conferences, public meetings, lobbying in face-to-face meetings, and written or telephone communications. These are explained briefly below.
Working with Policymakers ("Insider Advocacy")
It is possible to exert considerable policy influence if you are able to work inside the system. You can develop this relationship through service delivery work on the issue, or through involvement in advisory forums (e.g. government committees or working groups). As your organization develops the expertise you will begin to be recognized and accepted as ‘experts’ and as a resource by policy-makers. Working ‘on the inside’ enables you to get to know policy-makers, and thus to influence them more effectively.
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Example of Insider Advocacy: Following advocacy, the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments was able to place a representative on the European Union (EU) committee that carried out ethical review of animal experiments funded by the EU. The representative was able to table research and papers favoring alternatives to animal experiments, as well as influencing opinions on individual research projects. |
However, such approaches are not without their drawbacks. These include:
- Tokenism: representation is given to provide a veneer of democracy/consultation, but your views and opinions are not taken on board. This often happens, and many advocates decide to withdraw from their insider position, rather than being used as an excuse for inaction and maintenance of the status quo.
- Conflict of interests: fear of losing your insider position could prevent you from being a powerful advocate for your cause.
- Co-option– there is a danger of becoming co-opted (peer pressure brings you to become ‘one of them’).
You need to choose the right representative for any dealings with policy-makers, but this is particularly true of insider lobbying: your representative should be a recognized expert, but also have a strong personality, and commitment to your issue and values.
Consultations
In many countries there are now many NGOs or interest groups who have an opinion on policy issues. The government may launch a ‘consultation’ to gather opinions and views on a topic. Try to be present at these consultations or feed in your views by sending a short, well written document. An important advocacy skill you should develop is the ability to analyze and comment on strategies, policies and legislation. This is helped by relevant policy knowledge, and knowing your issue thoroughly from a practical perspective (so you understand the impact of the provisions for animals and animal welfare organizations on the ground).
Face to Face Meetings
Face-to-face meetings play an important role in lobbying.
These may take a long time to arrange – be persistent. Once you have a meeting with a decision-maker, prepare well. It is usually good to go with one or two colleagues, and each of you should have a role. For example: one may do introductions, another describe the research, another give personal testimony. It will probably be a short meeting. Try to make a timetable and stick to it. Have a small number of points you want to make and make sure you say them. Do not get diverted. And - most importantly – do not forget your ‘ask’!
Working in networks or coalitions you may get the chance to feed the views of a number of agencies to the ‘target’. It is advantageous if your organization is chosen to represent a coalition because you get to meet the decision makers face to face.
Presentations
Making presentations on your issue can help to influence various policy audiences. This may be with photos, or a poster, but nowadays is more likely with a computer. Therefore in your group you need someone who can speak eloquently, and someone who can make a short presentation on the computer. (‘PowerPoint’ is the best tool.) This will depend on the meeting – be sure to find out beforehand what is expected, how formal it will be, how long, and who will be there.
Conferences, Seminars, Public Meetings, Etc.
You can lobby on your issue at any relevant conferences, seminars, public meetings, workshops or other relevant events. This has the big advantage that key policy thinkers on your issue will come and be present in the same place, focused on discussing the issues.
Three ways to go about this are:
- You can organize a conference yourself on your issue. The advantage is that you control the agenda, but this is usually a costly and time-consuming job. It is expensive to hire a venue for a day or two and difficult to ensure that key decision-makers will attend.
- You can attend conferences organized by others on a subject close to your interest. Sometimes you will have to ‘re-frame your issue’ in terms of the broader policy issues under discussion at some of these forums. Re-framing simply means presenting your issue in a way that makes it relevant to the interests of that particular audience.
- You can lobby policy makers to hold a conference on your issue (e.g. using new research and evidence). This can also give you the opportunity to influence the agenda.
International Conferences:
If you can arrange it, attend global conferences where key practitioners and policy makers get together. The OIE’s conferences on animal welfare are examples of this. There are other conferences on issues which are relevant to animal welfare as well (such as sustainable development, biodiversity etc.).
- Make a calendar of key events coming up over the year or next two years. Big conferences take a long time to organize and you have to apply well in advance if you want a space.
- Look out for ‘calls for abstracts’. This is where the organizers ask for short written submissions.
They use these abstracts to decide if your work is interesting enough to invite you to attend. If your abstract is accepted then you will be able to present to one of the sessions. Make sure you submit your abstract exactly in the way requested. The length, the font size, the subject matter must be exactly as they request, otherwise your work will not be considered. Of course to be able to write a good abstract you will need to have good program work ‘on the ground’, i.e. - good experience to share, or good research. In your organization or group you will need to develop the habit of assessing your work, and learning from your experiences, so that you can share your new learning.
Demonstrating the Problem or Possible Solutions
Apart from conferences there are other ways to share your issues with policy-makers. You can take them – or their advisers – to see the problem at first hand, meeting with and speaking to those personally involved with the animal welfare impact. Alternatively, you can record the evidence (video, photographs, reports, case studies etc.) in order to demonstrate the animal welfare impact of the problem.
You can also carry out or support pilot projects in order to demonstrate that your suggested solutions will work in practice.
Recording and spreading good practice is a positive and practical advocacy tool.
Legal Challenges
Some animal welfare organizations use the law to further their cause, for example:
- Testing dubious provisions
- Pressing breaches
- Enforcement complaints
This can be done through a variety of means, including: judicial reviews, using the ombudsman, advertising standards, the courts, enforcement authorities etc. To engage in any legal advocacy you need to have staff members (or experts) who definitely know what they are doing!
Written and Verbal Representations
You can lobby using written representations, but if possible these should lead up to face-to-face meetings. You can present your views to decision makers using mediums such as:
- Reports or position papers
- Representations
- Petitions
- Letters
- Telephone calls
- Email/Internet
One scenario is that you prepare a report which you send the decision-maker to get their attention – then ask for a meeting to discuss the report. Try to get the target to agree to some of the recommendations. After the meeting you will want to put in writing what was agreed. And if necessary, follow up to ensure there is some movement towards implementation.
Module 6 on ‘Media and Communications’ covers the whole range of communications: including written, face-to-face, meetings and negotiations.
Lobbying is a vital part of the move towards social change. Unlike campaigning, which aims to reach large numbers of activists or the general public, lobbying is an activity to reach a small number of key decision makers on a specific issue.
Lobbying can be used to achieve a number of legislative aims, including:
- Introduction of legislation
- Improvement of legislation
- Enforcement of existing legislation
- Any combination of the above
It can also be used to influence consumers and animal use industries.
Influencing decision makers means engaging with your target, e.g. the mayor, a legislator or a company chief - in a way that will bring about policy change. Your lobbying strategy should be backed by thorough research – you can only influence successfully if you understand the people involved, and their motivations. You need to be clear about: what you are asking for; who you are targeting; and how you will reach them.
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Tip It weakens your case if you target policymakers with more than one 'ask' at any time. |
Effective communication is the essence of successful lobbying. Lobbying needs to be carried out by people who know their subject. To lobby well you need to be an expert in your field, or at least be confident that you know your facts on your issue.
To carry out educational work without lobbying is akin to laying foundations without ever building the house (although others may well do this later). To carry out practical/service provision work without lobbying is akin to continuously patching up the symptoms of a disease without attempting a cure (although one is known/available).
Many animal welfare organizations are apprehensive about lobbying, as it appears to be a very complex and technical activity, and few activists have governmental or political backgrounds. In reality, if you do your research and get to know the people involved, it will no longer be a threat or a mystery.
Introduction
What is Lobbying?
Ways of Lobbying
Building Policy Influence
Gathering Support and Neutralizing Opposition
Timing and Focus
The Lobbyist
Further Resources
Introduction
This module looks at the role of lobbying in advocacy. It defines lobbying, looks at the role of the lobbyist and what it takes to become a successful animal welfare lobbyist. Various lobbying issues and skills are examined.
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Learning objectives:
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