Policy advocacy is defined as active, covert, or inadvertent support of a particular
policy
Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...
or class of policies. Advocacy can include a variety of activities including,
lobbying
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...
, litigation, public education, and forming relationships with parties of interest. Advocating for policy can take place from a local level to a state or federal government. For example, a local advocacy group in
Brunswick, Georgia
Brunswick () is a city in and the county seat of Glynn County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As the primary urban and economic center of the lower southeast portion of Georgia, it is the second-largest urban area on the Georgia coastline after Sa ...
, Defenders of Wildlife, advocated for the passage of the H.R. 5552
Migratory Bird Protection Act during 2020 when rollbacks to the bill were introduced from the Trump Administration. At the state level, advocacy for policy can be a joint effort between advocacy groups. In the United States, advocacy groups around the nation planned joint efforts to get the
Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA)
A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, se ...
signed into law in each of their respective states and in 2018, the bill was signed into law by Texas Governor
Greg Abbott
Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 50th Tex ...
making it the tenth state to enforce this law.
Scientists as policy advocates
One controversial area of advocacy is when scientists shift out of the role of scientist and into the role of policy advocate. Scientists, engineers, and other technical experts sometimes also act as policy advocates for their personal policy or their employer's policy preferences. It is common in local, state, and federal governments to find scientists working on policy advocacy. For example, many non-profit groups with a focus on
science policy
Science policy is concerned with the allocation of resources for the conduct of science towards the goal of best serving the public interest. Topics include the funding of science, the careers of scientists, and the translation of scientific disc ...
and
advocacy
Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...
in the United States like the
National Science Policy Network (NSPN) or
Engineers and Scientists Acting Locally (ESAL) provide networks for all career stage professionals in
STEM
Stem or STEM may refer to:
Plant structures
* Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang
* Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure
* Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
fields to engage in policy advocacy together. Other ways that STEM professionals engage in policy advocacy can be seen as expert witnesses and panel speakers in the United States congressional committee meetings in both the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
and the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, many of which oversee scientific and technological topics such as the
House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
The Committee on Science, Space, and Technology is a standing committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over non-defense federal scientific research and development. More specifically, the committee h ...
or the
Senate committee on Energy and Natural Resources
The United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over matters related to energy and mineral resources, including nuclear development; irrigation and recla ...
. During these committee meetings, lawmakers will gather experts from both public and private sectors to provide insight into the issue at stake and why a policy should or should not be enacted. Policy advocates from across the political spectrum will provide policy advocates who have scientific credentials to pitch their policy preferences.
Providing technical and scientific information to inform policy deliberations in an objective and relevant way is recognized as a difficult problem in many scientific and technical professions. The challenge and conflicts have been studied for those working as stock analysts in brokerage firms, for medical experts testifying in malpractice trials, for funding officers at international development agencies, and for intelligence analysts within governmental national security agencies. The job of providing accurate, relevant, and policy neutral information is especially challenging if highly controversial policy issues (such as
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
) that have a significant scientific component.
The use of
normative science
In the applied sciences, normative science is a type of information that is developed, presented, or interpreted based on an assumed, usually unstated, preference for a particular outcome, policy or class of policies or outcomes. Regular or tradit ...
by scientists is a common method used to subtly advocate for preferred policy choices. Conflict may arise with the administration of a scientific journal when some scientists wish to include their policy preferences in their scientific manuscripts, while editors and other scientists assert that scientific articles ought to remain policy neutral.*
See also
*
Science policy
Science policy is concerned with the allocation of resources for the conduct of science towards the goal of best serving the public interest. Topics include the funding of science, the careers of scientists, and the translation of scientific disc ...
*
Advocacy
Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...
*
Advocacy group
Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...
*
Normative science
In the applied sciences, normative science is a type of information that is developed, presented, or interpreted based on an assumed, usually unstated, preference for a particular outcome, policy or class of policies or outcomes. Regular or tradit ...
References
External links
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*Shannon (1996).
Science Advocacy is Inevitable: Deal with It Society of American Foresters.
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*{{cite journal , last1 = Caldwell , year = 2005 , title = Courting the expert: clash of culture? , url = , journal = British Journal of Haematology , volume = 129 , issue = 6, pages = 730–733 , pmid = 15952998 , doi=10.1111/j.1365-2141.2005.05464.x
Science in society
Advocacy groups
Activism by type