Policy advocates lobby for laws and policies, ranging from citizens to organizations to lawyers. In representative democracies, advocates appeal to elected officials with promises of support or threats of endorsing other candidates. Advocates can be citizens concerned about local issues, organizations with large numbers of members, or professional lobbyists who are hired for their access to politicians.
A policy advocate is a person who fights or lobbies for legislative bodies to adopt particular laws and policies. Advocates for the policies range from ordinary citizens to like-minded organizations to lawyers. They may be purely motivated by a desire to fight for what they believe is right and fair, or simply for personal gain.
Most Western countries have a representative democratic form of government. In this type of government, individuals are elected to a legislative body to represent the interests and wishes of the people, or constituency, that elected them. Because these representatives are popularly elected and typically seek to stay in office as long as possible, they seek to serve their constituency’s interests well. Policy advocates appeal to elected officials, often with promises to provide electoral votes and financial donations if the representative assists them, and conversely, with threats to endorse other candidates if the advocate’s wishes are not met.
At the lowest level, a policy advocate is a citizen concerned about an issue in his or her local community, whether it’s a proposed new bridge, the school budget, or a change in property tax law. Ultimately, he wants to influence the decision of politicians. As he becomes more motivated, he will often call other community members to rally around the cause and may hold a town meeting to discuss the issue.
He or she may hand out flyers pointing to the cause and may also go door-to-door to explain to other citizens why they should support the position. The policy advocate often asks supporters to call policy makers, send letters, or even rally or march. When a movement begins like this, from citizen action and without the help or inclusion of professional politicians, it is often referred to as a grassroots movement.
At the broadest level, there are organizations that have large numbers of members, all of whom are part of the organization for a common cause. The AARP – formerly the American Retirees Association – is one such group, and these same entities can be considered an advocate for the policy. They use institutional resources to motivate their members to contact representatives about matters of interest. AARP, for example, would likely support issues related to changes in Social Security or Medicaid, both of which are social safety nets for people of older age.
Perhaps the most unique type of political advocate is the professional lobbyist. A lobbyist is often a lawyer and could be considered a policy advocate for hire. Lobbyists are typically expensive, but they are hired for a good reason: access.
Typically, lobbyists reside in cities where legislatures operate — one estimate puts the number of lobbyists in Washington, DC, in the tens of thousands — and are often formerly elected officials. They know the ins and outs and machinations of the political process and are up front with the important people who ultimately make the policy. Typically, they are hired by corporations, other advocacy organizations, and even cities.
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