Teaching public policy advocacy by combining academic knowledge and professional wisdom

Abstract

Lobbying is a well-established occupation and has attained a professional status in the United States and other democracies in the world that can be taught in the university setting. This article discusses what lobbying skills can be learned in a university setting, and second what subjects are and should be included in the curriculum of public affairs and lobbying courses. From over 20 years’ experience at American University’s Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute (PAAI) in Washington DC and for the last 12 years in the European Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute (EPAAI) in Brussels, we know ethical lobbying skills and knowledge can be taught effectively in a university setting. With the help of professional lobbyists, we have taught technical skills, professional norms and ethics, and strategies and tactics of advocacy to over 1000 students, since the founding of PAAI in 1992. Effective lobbying strategies, tactics and ethics can be taught and learned with a combination of rigorous academic research and applied/practical wisdom from professional advocates. From our program we have launched hundreds of PAAI graduates into successful advocacy careers. The underlying approach in PAAI is ‘The Campaign Mindset’, an operational theory of change in advocacy and the policy process. Our curriculum instructionally mirrors the content and process that a comprehensive advocacy campaign would embrace, from conception through implementation, to conclusion. Specifically, our curriculum content is organized into six general interrelated and at times overlapping modules. The modules reflect the conceptual building blocks that are typically used in a major advocacy campaign. However, many important topics and tools critical to advocacy action plans are also discussed within each module. The PAAI Modules are: Political Environment Assessment for Strategy and Action Plan Development and Management; Direct Lobbying; Communications Strategy, Message Development and Execution; Coalition Building; Building and Using Grassroots and Grasstops Support; and Understanding and Operating Within the Ethical Laws, Rules and Norms Pertaining to all Aspects of Advocacy. We have integrated professional lobbyist mentors into PAAI who have helped keep the curriculum up-to-date (for example, especially social media) and essential in placing our students in the advocacy profession.