Advocacy for Social Change

This book portrays how small, geographically dispersed, progressive social change and social service organizations working within a coalition are able to influence national level social policies. Based on extensive empirical research focused on two national organizations that exist to protect lower income communities, and three more local organizations associated with them, it shows how such organizations achieve success by establishing professionally staffed national level organizations that coordinate coalition efforts, mobilize members into action, provide information and instruction to facilitate such action, and act as the public voice for the coalitions.

Preface Abbreviations, acronyms or shorthand expressions PART I The focal catalytic coalition model 1 Advocating for the poor through state and national coalitions 2 NCRC and the issues that emerge from defending the Community Reinvestment Act 3 NLIHC and issues on affordable housing for lower-income individuals PART II Mobilizing and informing members 4 Mobilization: building a foundation for coalition action 5 The power of information and information as power PART III Advocacy and lobbying efforts to bring about policy changes 6 The tools of coalition advocacy: working with the mass media to frame issues 7 Techniques for influencing legislators and regulators 8 Lobbying in person 9 Legislative and regulatory agency hearings 10 Other forms of political pressure PART IV Bringing it all together at the annual meeting 11 What annual conferences accomplish 12 Encounters with elected and regulatory officials at the national conference Conclusion: reflections on the theory and models for coalition advocacy and suggestions for progressive activism Appendix: methodological approach Index