How to Push Policy Using the Full Toolkit
“At the banquet table of nature, there are no reserved seats. You get what you can take, and you keep what you can hold. If you can’t take anything, you won’t get anything, and if you can’t hold anything, you won’t keep anything. And you can’t take anything without organization.”
~ A. Philip Randolph
Keys to Issue Campaigns
Here are our main keys to issue campaigns:
- Use issue campaigns to push policy and create conflict between differing options that gets more public attention, rather than being solely an education or awareness-raising campaigns.
- Focus your capacity on moving primary and secondary targets (e.g., focus on one legislator rather than trying to move the entire legislature).
- Frame your campaign around a clear message, story, and narrative.
- Focus on shorter term strategic initiatives rather than long-term plans since much changes once you start.
- Electoral pressure is the most direct form of pressure.
Principles of Issue Campaigns
Issue Campaigns Are Solutions to a Specific Problem
Issue campaigns are highly organized efforts to implement specific policies. (i.e., issues are your proposed solutions to problems).
Think of all the ways electoral campaigns try to get a candidate elected (e.g., canvassing, advertising, getting public endorsements, etc.). Issue campaigns are very similar to electoral campaigns except instead of trying to elect a candidate, they work to get a policy implemented. An issue campaign is also more than just advocacy/lobbying, since an effective issue campaign involves strong communications, volunteer management, an array of tactics, etc.
Never Stop Base Building
Joan Minieri and Paul Getsos in Tools for Radical Democracy write “Build your base. Sometimes during the course of a campaign, organizations and organizers stop base-building to do other things that the campaign demands. This neglect is a mistake, both for the campaign and for long-range organizational growth, health, and development.”
Communicate a Compelling Message
Remember your campaign should have a public narrative as well. Who are the heroes? Who are the villains? What are the core values you are fighting for?
Apply Multiple Forms of Pressure
Use traditional advocacy with creative actions, or legal pressure with canvassing at the doors. It is rare when one form of pressure is enough to convince decision-makers so make sure to use all your options.
Electoral Pressure is the Most Direct Form of Pressure
Remember electoral pressure (i.e., efforts that impact an elected official’s chance at reelection) is often the most direct way to put pressure on a specific target and often has the best results. Remember, some districts swing strongly conservative and some strongly liberal, so keep that in mind when identifying a person to build your voice around (e.g., in a liberal district, find a liberal voice challenging the incumbent).
Focus on a Select Few Targets Instead of Every Decision Maker
Do not focus on the whole elected body (e.g., city/county council, school board, General Assembly), instead focus on the sway-able officials. It is helpful to talk to all elected members in the legislative body to truly understand their views, but do not commit energy to trying to convince those that are “a lost cause.” Also, by focusing on one to two targets you put more pressure on them that is hard to ignore since you are concentrating resources.
Focus on Policy Change, Rather Than Direct Services
We need to focus most of our energy on addressing policy change instead of just providing direct services or things working on the symptoms. While direct services are essential, issue campaigns focus on addressing the “root causes” of issues. Many good organizations do direct service work, but very few are willing to challenge those in power and work to ensure equity and justice over the long-term.
Engage in Frequent Action
Joan Minieri and Paul Getsos in Tools for Radical Democracy remind us that by engaging in frequent action we are better able to motivate members for the long-term so they can experience being active participants in the campaign. This is true even if it is a long-term campaign.
Consistently Adapt and Re-Strategize
It is essential to have a plan, but do not spend months planning. It is better to spend real-time planning and then implement in the real world. Then adapt based on what you learned.
Build a Strong Leadership Team
This is essential. You need to build a core leadership team of 3-8 people, and then add in volunteers around them. It cannot be about just one person.
Understand How to Build Coalitions
Adam Grant writes in Originals about the “Goldilocks theory of coalition formation,” which means that to build large-scale movements you will need to find a balance between the urgent changemakers and those who wish to move slowly. You will need messages and actions that can pull allies from many more sectors and constituencies than just those most passionate about your issue.
He shares a few key ideas on how to build coalitions:
- Instead of trying to change the values or principles of another group, find ways to connect the issues you are fighting for with their agendas.
- Find the right message that appeals to the audiences you need to win over. For example in the women’s suffrage movement, “Willard smuggled the vote inside the Trojan horse of fighting alcohol abuse…In a form of ‘public motherhood,’ enfranchised women could benefit society by promoting education, limiting government corruption, and helping the poor.”
Have a Positive Vision of What You Are Organizing People For, Rather Than Just Against
While there will be some short-term organizing campaigns that can last on anger or oppositional efforts, in the long-term you will need to organize based on people’s hope for the future.
Foster Disciplined Movements
Rev. Jim Lawson stresses the point that to build lasting movements, you have to have disciplined people that know how to plan, strategize, and act.
Avoid “Failure Doctrine” of Blaming Other Factors Rather Than Learning From Our Mistakes
Ibram X Kendi asserts that we need to avoid solely blaming institutional or systemic factors when our efforts do not produce the results we want. Kendi writes, “When the protest fails, we blame racist power rather than our flawed protest. When our policy does not produce racial equity, we blame the people for not taking advantage of the new opportunity, not our flawed policy solution. The failure doctrine avoids the mirror of self-blame…”
There are big factors (e.g., parties, institutions, Wall Street, etc.) that may try to resist our efforts, but we have to take responsibility for learning and improving if we ever hope to win.
Influencing Decision Makers
Overview
The following ways to influence decision-makers apply to common targets such as elected officials, though they also apply to other types of individuals (e.g., business leaders, community leaders, etc.).
Most often activists and change agents focus on one to two areas for putting pressure on decision-makers (e.g., grassroots and lobbying), but sometimes it is very difficult to accomplish your goals with just a few methods. Below are methods that put pressure on decision-makers.
Lobbying and Interest Groups
Lobbying is the process of seeking to influence a decision-maker on an issue. The best way to lobby is to build strong relationships with legislators (e.g., through people in their districts, people who have worked with them and built a good rapport, etc.).
One important thing to keep in mind is the involvement of broader coalitions and interest groups either supportive or opposed to your lobbying efforts (e.g., civil rights, labor, law enforcement, faith, and other groups). Interest groups often get deeply involved in elections so they have additional influence on elected leaders.
Grassroots Advocacy
Grassroots advocacy is the process of asking the general public to contact an elected official regarding a certain issue (e.g., petitions, call-ins, signing postcards, rallies, etc.). The best way to do grassroots advocacy is to get people to contact their legislators and tailor your message to those elected leaders that need the most convincing (e.g., ideally in-person, or social media message/mention, or by phone, or by email). However, if you do not get enough people to contact their elected officials then your efforts may look less strong.
Media
Media pressure is the process of getting earned or paid communications focused on your issues. Ideally, you can build relationships with the media to get earned media attention that puts pressure on clearly identified targets (e.g., a single State Senator, rather than the whole state senate) and also puts your efforts in a favorable light. For this to work, you have to think through what the press will actually cover, not just what you want them to cover.
Legal
Legal pressure is the process of challenging an existing policy or practice through the court system. The best way to do legal pressure is to build up public pressure over time and build a compelling case. However, legal pressure is very time and resource-heavy so you need to be prepared for these costs.
Economic
Economic pressure is the process of targeting, directly or indirectly, industries connected to your issues. Economic pressure is extremely hard for elected officials to ignore, but also one of the most difficult strategies to initiate effectively. You have to have very strategic economic engines to target, the ability to maintain pressure for an extended period, and the ability to tie it clearly to your issues (e.g., the conclusion of the 2018-2019 U.S. government shutdown occurred partially due to air traffic controllers refusing to work without pay).
Electoral
Electoral pressure is the process of building up a real or perceived challenger to specific elected officials. The best way to build electoral pressure is to find a strong voice for your issue in the district and continue to highlight the community’s support for that issue/individual which can put growing pressure on the elected official to respond. However, it is challenging to find the right person to be the “voice” for the issue in all targeted districts.
Disruption and Direct Action
Using strategic nonviolent disruption and direct action (i.e., people physically engaging themselves in a tactic that pressures the target/advances the campaign) are two other strategies to consider. They require intense training and discipline to do well, but if successful can significantly shift power dynamics.
Tips to Putting Pressure on Decision Makers
- Do not focus on the whole elected body (e.g., city/county council, school board, General Assembly), instead focus on the sway-able officials. It is helpful to talk to all elected members in the legislative body to truly understand their views, but do not commit energy to trying to convince those that are “a lost cause.”
- Apply multiple forms of pressure. For example, the ACLU uses legal pressure to effectively push legislation in combination with lobbying, grassroots advocacy, and media pressure.
- Electoral pressure is the most direct way to put pressure on a specific target.. Remember some districts swing strongly conservative and some strongly liberal, so keep that in mind when identifying a person to build your voice around (e.g., in a liberal district, find a liberal voice challenging the incumbent).