Advocacy and the Policy Process

GIPI's Advocacy Training Manual

Internet advocacy poses unique challenges. Decisions about Internet policy are vested in a range of institutions, depending on the structure of government and commerce in a given country and on the allocation of authority over telecommunications and other regulated sectors. What is more, many decisions that impact the openness and democratic nature of the Internet are made not only by government bodies, but by the IT industry itself and by international governance and standards organizations. To be a successful advocate in the Internet policy arena, one must have a diverse set of strategic skills beyond knowledge of the substantive and technical issues raised by a policy proposal.

GIPI has developed a training program designed to teach advocates how to create and implement an effective advocacy plan. The training manual covers seven topics:

• Goals & Objectives
• Developing Arguments to Support Goals
• The Public Policy Process
• Networks, Working Groups, and Coalitions
• Targeting Audiences
• Message Development
• Creating a Media Plan

This advocacy training is intended to provide participants a first overview of the core skills they need to turn policy objectives into active and participatory issue campaigns. It is intended to be used in conjunction with in-person training, over a period of several days, with an experienced advocate, but even merely reading the manual should give a good overview of the topic.

This training manual was prepared for the Global Internet Policy Initiative by Leslie Harris and Liza Kessler of Harris and Associates, Washington, DC.

GIPI Advocacy Training Manual [pdf] English Russian

Other Resources

Advocacy - a series of articles by The Communication Initiative (March 2005) - Includes "Understanding Advocacy, Social Mobilisation & Communication," "Advocacy Tools & Guidelines: Promoting Policy Change," "Using Stories to Prompt Attitude & Behavior Change," and many case studies in effective advocacy.

Online advocacy principles and case studies within the context of ICT and Conflict Transformation, [pdf] by Sanjana Hattotuwa, Discussion paper for Oneworld South Asia Partners meeting, 3-4 February 2003, Delhi, India -- ICT is a means to an end, not an end in itself. This paper concentrates on the increasing confluence between ICT and Conflict Transformation. While NGOs working in the fields of human rights, conflict transformation and governance have been quicker to adopt IT savvy advocacy principles, governments in South Asia are also increasingly aware of the potential of ICTs to buttress interventions, on an official level and grassroots level, to transform ethno-political conflict.