O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs

Advocacy, Lobbying, and Policymaking

 

Instructor:

Jill Nicholson-Crotty

jillnich@iu.edu

Class Meeting: Asynchronous Online

Office Hours: By Appointment

 

Course Descriptions

Advocacy and lobbying are central mechanisms through which individuals, nonprofit organizations, associations, corporations, social movements, and other organized interests attempt to influence public policy. This course examines advocacy and lobbying as both subjects of scholarly inquiry and professional practices.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

• Explain major theories of interest-group politics, advocacy, lobbying, and political influence.
• Distinguish among lobbying, advocacy, organizing, public education, electoral activity, and related forms of political engagement.
• Analyze political environments to identify decision-makers, stakeholders, allies, opponents, and opportunities for influence.
• Develop clear and achievable advocacy objectives.
• Select advocacy tactics appropriate to different political and institutional contexts.
• Analyze legislative and regulatory processes from the perspective of advocacy organizations.
• Evaluate the strengths and limitations of inside and outside lobbying strategies.
• Develop persuasive policy arguments for policymakers and other advocacy audiences.
• Design grassroots, coalition, media, and direct-lobbying strategies.
• Assess the ethical and democratic implications of professional advocacy and lobbying.
• Evaluate advocacy campaigns using appropriate measures of political and organizational effectiveness.
• Develop an integrated, evidence-based advocacy campaign.

How much time should you be spending on this class:  If this is a standard 3-credit semester length class, you are expected to spend an average of 6 or more hours outside of class per week on reading, studying, assignments, etc.

 

O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs: Student Honor Code

 Introduction

The O’Neill School takes matters of honesty and integrity seriously.  We expect O’Neill students will, at all times, maintain academic integrity and civil and professional standards of conduct.

Scope

O’Neill’s Student Honor Code applies to all courses and programs offered by O’Neill, and to all students who participate in O’Neill classes and programs, regardless of whether students are admitted to O’Neill. Students studying at O’Neill are expected to continue their commitment to ethical behavior in all their endeavors, including, but not limited to, coursework inside and outside of O’Neill, internships, community service, and overseas study.

O’Neill’s Student Honor Code incorporates IU’s Code of Student Right, Responsibilities, & Conduct andextends to matters of civility and professional conduct, including, expectations about class attendance, punctuality, participation in class, and decorum in class and at other school functions.

Academic Conduct Requirements

All students enrolled in O’Neill courses are subject to the academic misconduct provisions found in the IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, & Conduct.  

Academic misconduct is defined as any activity that tends to undermine the academic integrity of the institution.

The IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, & Conduct lists and defines many types of academic misconduct, including cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, interference, violation of course rules, and facilitating academic dishonesty.   

Academic misconduct includes the use of any technology or assistance, including AI, that is not permitted by the instructor.

Civility and Professional Conduct Requirements

O’Neill requires that all students treat others with mutual respect and behave professionally in the classroom and during all academic and non-academic activities.

These civility and professional conduct requirements foster an appropriate atmosphere inside and outside the classroom:

• Students must act in accordance with the O’Neill School mission and values.
• Students must regularly attend and be fully prepared for class, including completing readings.
• Students must not behave in a way that interrupts or distracts from teaching or learning. For example, students must be punctual in their arrival to class and be present and attentive for the duration of the class. They must not sleep, do work for another class, or wander in and out of the classroom, pack up, or leave class early (unless an emergency exists).
• Students must abide by the course policy regarding use of electronic devices in the classroom, including a requirement that no electronics are allowed or that students are not permitted to use devices for non-class related purposes.
• Students must responsibly participate in class activities and during team meetings for course assignments.
• Students must attend scheduled meetings with faculty or staff, events for which they have RSVPed, interviews with prospective employers, and student organization meetings.  
• Students must address faculty members, other students, and others appropriately and withrespect, whether in person, in writing, or in electronic communications.
• Students must show tolerance and respect for others.
• Students must practice respect and responsible stewardship of the physical resources of the school, refraining from destroying or defacing school property, integrating practices of sustainability, and contributing to a clean and orderly physical environment in all buildings, classrooms, offices, and meeting spaces.   
• Students must comply with the personal misconduct responsibilities within the IU Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, & Conduct.

Reporting 

Students must abide by the O’Neill Student Honor Code themselves and hold their peers to the same standards. Students should report suspected instances of academic, civility, or professional misconduct to the instructor of the course. Students should report suspected instances of personal misconduct to the IU Office of Student Conduct.

Course Requirements

Detailed instructions for all assignments can be found in the Assignments Module

 

Advocacy & Lobbying Case Analysis	25%
Comprehensive Advocacy Campaign Plan and Presentation	35%
Policy One-Pager/Legislative Leave Behind	10%
Stakeholder & Power Analysis Memo	10%
Participation & Discussions	10%
Exercises & Reflections	10%

 

Course Materials—Instructor’s Exclusive Rights

 

The faculty member teaching this course holds the exclusive right to distribute, modify, post, and reproduce course materials, including all written materials, study guides, lectures, assignments, exercises, and exams. While you are permitted to take notes on the online materials and lectures posted for this course for your personal use, you are not permitted to re-post in another forum, upload to AI, distribute, reproduce content from this course, or sell the instructor’s course materials (including notes and study guides) without the express written permission of the faculty member.

 

Violations of this policy will be reported to the Dean of Students as academic misconduct (violation of course rules). Sanctions for academic misconduct may include a failing grade on the assignment for which the notes/study guides are being sold, a reduction in your final course grade, or a failing grade in the course, among other possibilities.

 

Additionally, you should know that selling a faculty member’s course using IU email, or via Canvas may also constitute a violation of IU information technology and IU intellectual property policies; additional consequences may result.

 

Required Texts and Readings

 All readings are available online, through IU Libraries, or are provided on canvas.

 Course Policies

Use of generative AI (such as ChatGPT) in this class. 

Using AI to assist in completing assignments in this class is prohibited unless noted in specific assignment. If you do use AI, you will be committing plagiarism* and will be subject to penalties in this class and sanctions by Indiana University. You are permitted to use the free version of Grammarly and Microsoft Word’s spelling and grammar tool.

 WARNING: Submitting any questions, assignments, notes, slides, or other instructor-produced course materials into Generative AI without permission is a violation of the facultymember’s exclusive rights and will be reported to the Dean of Students as academicmisconduct.

*Plagiarism: Plagiarism is defined as presenting someone else’s work, including the work of other students, as one’s own. Any ideas or materials taken from another source for either written or oral use must be fully acknowledged, unless the information is common knowledge. https://studentcode.iu.edu/responsibilities/academic-misconduct.html. (emphasis added)

Academic Honesty 

Academic honesty is fundamental to the activities and principles of a university. All members of the academic community must be confident that each person’s work has been responsibly and honorably acquired, developed, and presented. When you borrow the words or ideas of another person, you must give attribution. This responsibility to give attribution includes instances in which you are paraphrasing what someone else has said. Otherwise, you are “stealing” another person’s intellectual property and offering it as your own.

Presenting other’s work as your own on a written assignment or cheating on an exam will result in 0 for that assignment. A second infraction will result in failing grade for the course. When in doubt about plagiarism, paraphrasing, quoting, or collaboration, consult the professor.

Attendance

Students are expected to “attend” the course weekly to participate in the online discussions. While this course is flexible on when you choose to do the work, the pace and due dates require weekly activities.

Late assignments 

I will deduct 10% from the assignment grade for each day that the assignment is late. Emergency situations will be considered, but please prepare early for written assignments in case something does come up at the last minute.

Incompletes

In general I do not grant incompletes, but I will do so when three conditions are met: 1) that the student has a verifiable emergency situation that makes it impossible to complete the coursework on time, 2) that the student sign an agreement with the instructor prior to the final examination period about the requirements to be met for completing the class, and 3) that all required work be completed within a short period of time not to exceed a month. Otherwise, I will turn in a grade reflecting the work completed, including a zero for any incomplete assignments.

Late Withdrawal

 See https://calendars.registrar.indiana.edu/official-calendar/ for dates.  

 After the auto-W deadline, withdrawal will be significantly limited, and you will need permission to withdraw and must meet requirements established by O’Neill.

 

Course Schedule

 

Week 1: Introductions and Definitions

 

Week 2: What Is Advocacy? Interest Groups and Democratic Politics

 

Week 3: Lobbying Law, Nonprofit Advocacy, and Ethics

 

Week 4: Advocacy and Social Movements

 

Week 5: Collective Action, Representation, and Political Power

 

Week 6: Advocacy Strategy: Insiders, Outsiders, and Theories of Change

 

Week 7: Communicating with Policymakers: Evidence, Framing, and the

Ask

 

Week 8: Direct Lobbying: What Lobbyists Actually Do

 

Week 9: Grassroots and Grasstops Lobbying

 

Week 10: Who Wins? Measuring Advocacy Influence

 

Week 11: Coalitions, Allies, and Advocacy Networks

 

Week 12: Media, Framing, and Public Opinion

 

Week 13: Stakeholders, Targets, Access, and Political Power

 

Week 14: Thanksgiving Week No Class

 

Week 15: Regulatory and Administrative Advocacy

 

Week 16: Campaign Presentations and What We Know About Advocacy

 

The above schedule is subject to limited change in the event of extenuating circumstances.

 

 

Other Campus Resources and Information for Students:

 

Counseling and Psychological Services

For information about services offered to students by CAPS:  http://healthcenter.indiana.edu/counseling/index.shtml

 

TimelyCare

Indiana students have free, 24/7 access to virtual mental health care services with TimelyCare. Students do not need insurance to access TimelyCare services. https://www.iu.edu/mental-health/find-resources/timely-care.html#0

 

Religious Accommodation Requests

The "Request for Accommodation for Religious Observances" form must be submitted by the student to the professor no later than two weeks prior to the anticipated absence.  A separate form must be submitted for each absence and for each course. Faculty do not have to consider accommodations for the purpose of allowing students to travel away from Bloomington for religious observance.  Information about the policy is found here: https://vpfaa.indiana.edu/resources/religious-observances-information.html.

 

Accessible Educational Services (formerly Disability Services for Students) 

Securing accommodations for a student with disabilities is a responsibility shared by the student, the instructor, and the AES Office. For information about support services or accommodations available to students with disabilities, and for the procedures to be followed by students and instructors: https://studentlife.indiana.edu/care-advocacy/iub-aes/index.html  

 

Sexual Harassment 

As your instructor, one of my responsibilities is to help create a safe learning environment on our campus. Title IX and our own Sexual Misconduct policy prohibit sexual misconduct.  If you have experienced sexual misconduct, or know someone who has, the University can help.

 

If you are seeking help and would like to talk to someone confidentially, you can make an appointment with:

1. The Sexual Assault Crisis Service (SACS) at 812-855-8900
2. Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at 812-855-5711
3. Confidential Victim Advocates (CVA) at 812-856-2469
4. IU Health Center at 812-855-4011

 

For more information about available resources:  http://stopsexualviolence.iu.edu/help/index.html. It is also important to know that federal regulations and University policy require me to promptly convey any information about potential sexual misconduct known to me to our campus’ Deputy Title IX Coordinator or IU’s Title IX Coordinator.  In that event, they will work with a small number of others on campus to ensure that appropriate measures are taken and resources are made available to the student who may have been harmed.  Protecting a student’s privacy is of utmost concern, and all involved will only share information with those that need to know to ensure the University can respond and assist.  I encourage you to visit http://stopsexualviolence.iu.edu/help/index.html to learn more.

 

IU Culture Centers: https://studentlife.indiana.edu/communities/culture-centers/index.html