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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Strategies Of Policy Advocacy Organizations And Their Theoretical Affinities: Evidence From Q-Methodology, Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright Jan 2018

Strategies Of Policy Advocacy Organizations And Their Theoretical Affinities: Evidence From Q-Methodology, Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Policy advocacy is an increasingly important function for many nonprofit organizations, yet their advocacy activities have largely escaped theoretical grounding. The literature on nonprofits has described how they engage in policy advocacy, without linking them to theories of policy change. The policy studies literature, on the other hand, has explained how various forms of influence result in policy change, but has largely ignored organizational perspectives on those processes. These two literatures remain largely disconnected. Drawing upon interviews with a purposive sample of policy advocacy directors at 31 nonprofit organizations, this study applies Q-methodology to identify and describe six distinct policy …


Advocacy By Parents Of Young Children With Special Needs: Activities, Processes, And Perceived Effectiveness, Amy Conley Wright, Sarah Taylor Jan 2014

Advocacy By Parents Of Young Children With Special Needs: Activities, Processes, And Perceived Effectiveness, Amy Conley Wright, Sarah Taylor

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This article examines parental advocacy for young children with disabilities using a subset of data drawn from a larger exploratory and descriptive study on parental advocacy for children with disabilities from birth to age 18 with a sample of 400 participants. Because this article focuses on parents of children from birth to age 6, only parents (n = 76) meeting this criterion were selected. Data were collected through an online survey, with a snowball sample generated through e-mail lists and social media groups. The survey included questions on demographics, types of advocacy settings, perceived effectiveness of advocacy efforts, and an …


Strategies Of Policy Advocacy Organizations, Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright Jan 2013

Strategies Of Policy Advocacy Organizations, Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Public advocacy in policy making is a hallmark of democracy, and the academic literature is replete with its benefits. Normatively, it is prescribed to legitimize the processes of policy making, and enhance public commitment for policy choices. Descriptively, a growing body of empirical research concludes that it produces better policy outcomes, such as wider distributions of benefits and a more responsive government. While these benefits are impressive, they accrue to society and ignore the fact that advocates often engage policy processes to advance their own preferences. What is missing from the academic literature are the advocates' expected outcomes of their …


Policy Advocacy Organizations: A Framework Linking Theory And Practice, Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright Jan 2013

Policy Advocacy Organizations: A Framework Linking Theory And Practice, Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The practice of policy advocacy by organizations has outpaced its theoretical development. Yet the importance of a theoretical grounding for advocacy campaigns has increased with the need for accountability and an understanding of advocates' contributions to policy development. This article synthesizes practitioner and academic literature on policy advocacy and proposes a conceptual framework of policy advocacy inputs, activities, and outcomes. Five distinct advocacy strategies are hypothesized: enhancing a democratic environment, applying public pressure, influencing decision makers, direct reform, and implementation change. This framework provides guidelines for organizations to strategically engage policy processes, while directing a research agenda on advocacy organizations.


A Framework For Policy Advocacy, Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright Jan 2012

A Framework For Policy Advocacy, Sheldon Gen, Amy Conley Wright

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The practice of policy advocacy has outpaced its theoretical development. Yet the importance of a theoretical grounding for advocacy has increased as advocacy organizations demand measures of efficacy, and theories of policy development need to account for advocates' contributions to the process. This article begins to address these issues by developing a conceptual framework of policy advocacy inputs, activities, and outcomes. Logic models of practitioners' advocacy programs were first synthesized into a general model. Then academic theories from social sciences and especially policy studies were reviewed and applied to hypothesize links between advocacy inputs and activities, and between activities and …


The Cultural Dimensions Of Human Rights Advocacy In The Asian Region, Vera C. Mackie Jan 2010

The Cultural Dimensions Of Human Rights Advocacy In The Asian Region, Vera C. Mackie

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Wendy Brown has commented on the importance of recognising the “interval” between theory and politics, and working in the space between. She advocates refusing the “dichotomy between the local and the global, the national and the transnational, the intellectual and the practical”. Brown’s comments seem particularly apposite for the project of analysing the work of transnational advocacy networks in the Asia-Pacific region. There are significant gaps between the academic debates on human rights, the actual language and protocols of the bodies devoted to ensuring the achievement of basic human rights, and the ways in which these issues are discussed in …


Consuming Children: An Analysis Of Australian Press Coverage Of The Claims And Counterclaims Of Advocacy And Industry Groups In Relation To A Proposed Ban On 'Junk Food' Advertising, Kate Holland, R Warwick Blood, Samantha Thomas, Asuntha Karunaratne, Sophie Lewis Jan 2009

Consuming Children: An Analysis Of Australian Press Coverage Of The Claims And Counterclaims Of Advocacy And Industry Groups In Relation To A Proposed Ban On 'Junk Food' Advertising, Kate Holland, R Warwick Blood, Samantha Thomas, Asuntha Karunaratne, Sophie Lewis

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Evidence of rising rates of overweight and obesity in Australia has generated considerable discussion about potential policy responses and solutions. In relation to childhood obesity, one suggestion that has been put forward is to ban or restrict junk food advertising to children. Debate about the merits of such a proposal was an enduring issue in the Australian press during our study's time frame, January 2008-January 2009. This paper is one part of a larger project investigating the reporting and portrayal of overweight and obesity in the Australian media, and the lived experiences of overweight and obese adults. In Australia, O'Hara …