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Grassroots lobbying

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Grassroots lobbying (aka indirect lobbying) is about raising awareness of a particular cause at the local level, with the intention of reaching the legislature and making a difference in the decision-making process. Grassroots lobbying is an approach that separates itself from direct lobbying through the act of asking the general public to contact legislators and government officials concerning the issue at hand, as opposed to directing the message at the legislation themselves. Its goal is to influence legislation through the general public. Companies, associations and citizens are increasingly partaking in grassroots lobbying as an attempt to influence a change in legislation. [1]

The unique characteristic of grassroots lobbying compared to other forms of lobbying is that in involves stimulating the politics of specific communities. This type of lobbying is different from the usual type as it is naturally brought upon by the organization unlike the structural lobbying seen elsewhere.

Large Company Campaigns

Large companies take advantage of grassroots lobbying as a means of impacting change in legislation. There are certain steps that need to be implemented before the outcome of the lobbying can take place.

  • The first step is a 'legislative action program'. This is the role of the management to make the action important in the eyes of the rest of the organization. Not only must they identify specific legislation concerns to the rest of the company, the lobbyists must also a type of study identifying the sectors of the public that are being affected.
  • The second step is to sensitize the members of the organization to writing, calling or visiting officials and the Member of Congress as soon as an 'alert' is given. This will bring about internal communication with levels of authority.
  • Finally, the third step is media planning. There must be use of advertising, posting articles, commercials and TV programming that feature people impacted by the specific cause. These will be geared to those representatives of a Congressional district.[2]

There are several tactics used by groups in order to promote advocacy of different issues among the legislature, but the main two tactics used in Grassroots or "outside" advocacy are holding press conferences or organizing press releases, and mobilizing the mass membership to create a movement.[3] By mobilizing the group that the lobby has built, this puts pressure on the legislature to listen and take notice of what concerns they may have. These tactics are used after the lobbying group gains a portion of the publics trust and support through speaking out in crowded areas, passing out flyers and even campaigning through web and television outlets. More recently, due to the potential of other modern communication devices, grassroots lobbying is expected to only increase as a form of shaping public opinion.[4]
Trends from the past decade in grassroots lobbying have been the increase in aggressive recruiting of volunteers and starting campaigns early on, way before the legislature must make a decision. Also, with increasing technology and modern communication techniques, lobbying groups have been able to create interactive web pages to email, recruit volunteers, assign them to tasks and keep the goal of the lobbying group on the right track.[5] With the added devices of today such as Facebook and Twitter, Grassroots lobbyists have an even easier, cheaper, and faster way to reach the masses and develop a strong base for their issues to be heard.

Hot Topics for Lobbyists

Not surprisingly, the major concerns of the general public do not reflect those of the lobbying groups. This is why the lobbying groups feel that they must use the aforementioned tactics to sway the public a certain way on an issue that they may never knew existed. To the general public, crime is the number one problem in nation, followed by the state of the economy and international affairs. However, the main concern for lobbying groups in the past has been on health concerns. A study done in 2009 shows that over 20 percent of lobbying groups put health concerns such as disease prevention, Medicare, or prescription drugs. This interest in health is followed closely by environmental concerns as well.[6] Although Grassroots lobbying has changed the stage of such advocacy, it is still concerning the same issues as other more traditional or direct lobbying

References

  1. ^ Graziano, Luigi (2001). Lobbying, Pluralism and Democracy. palgrave. p. 57. ISBN 0-333-92056-2.
  2. ^ Graziano, Luigi (2001). Lobbying, Pluralism and Democracy. palgrave. pp. 57–58. ISBN 0-333-92056-2.
  3. ^ Baumgartner, Frank (2009). Lobbying and Policy Change: Who wins, Who loses, and Why. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 151–156. ISBN 9780226039459.
  4. ^ Cooper, George (1968). "The Tax Treatment of Business Grassroots Lobbying: Defining and Attaining the Public Policy Objectives". Columbia Law Review. 68 (5): 801–859. Retrieved 4 April 2011. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ Bonner, Jack (1). "Trends in Grassroots Lobbying: Consultant Q & A". Campaigns and Elections. Retrieved 4 April 2011. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  6. ^ Baumgartner, Frank (2009). Lobbying and Policy Change: Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 15–17. ISBN 9780226039459.
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