Events

The Ethics of Grassroots Advocacy

Leave a comment about The Code Of Ethics Here.

A generation ago, rare was the public policy issue that brought with it an assault of TV advertising, tons of direct mail, dinnertime "robo calls", or the other features associated with modern "grassroots lobbying". Now such campaigns are commonplace.

The first amendment affirms the right of citizens to speak freely and to petition the government to redress grievances. And the public policy debates of today are high stakes affairs. So "grassroots campaigns " will be a permanent fixture in American politics and government.

But questions arise: How can the honesty of such campaigns be assured, if at all? Should the public know who is paying for them? Do "town hall meetings" have to turn ugly and near violent to be effective? Are the institutions within our representative democracy strong enough to endure and survive these barrages?

These questions---and others---are being debated every day in Congressional offices, in newsrooms and on the web, in consultants' quarters and in think tank conference rooms. The Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University believes that is high time that the discussion needs to take place in public, with all sides represented.

 

And here is our draft of a Code of Ethics!

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Ethical and Effectiveness Practices for Grassroots Advocacy Practitioners

 

• Legitimacy: The communications sent as a result of any advocacy campaign should always be delivered either directly from the citizen or with the express permission of the citizen. The role of the grassroots advocacy practitioner should be to provide citizens with the tools they need to deliver their own communications (whether based on sample messages or not) to policymakers.

 

• Authenticity: Messages delivered from citizens to policymakers should be authentic representations of that individual's views on a specific policy issue. In circumstances where communications are being sent based on templates and talking points, practitioners should always provide tools for personalizing the message. At a minimum, grassroots advocacy practitioners should ensure that citizens sending the communications agree, without coercion, with each specific message as developed by the organizer.

 

• Relevance: Grassroots advocacy practitioners have a responsibility to ensure that the communications coming from citizens are relevant to policymakers. This means that tools should be in place to establish a constituency relationship between the citizens and the policymaker. Note that this does not apply to circumstances where a citizen has a personal, non-constituent relationship with a legislator's office.

 

• Transparency: Grassroots advocacy practitioners working on behalf of organizations should not take steps to hide that organization's involvement in an advocacy effort. Likewise, communications from citizens that are generated as a result of an advocacy campaign should not be given less weight than those developed spontaneously.

 

• Civility: Grassroots advocacy practitioners should encourage civility in communications between citizens and policymakers. At a minimum, template communications and talking points should be drafted to reflect the opinions of the writer without resorting to excessive negativity or misrepresentations of the other side.

 

• Honesty: Grassroots advocacy practitioners should never knowingly provide false, misleading, inflammatory or inaccurate information in an effort to persuade citizens. At a minimum, practitioners should have due diligence programs in place to check the veracity of template messages developed for use in a campaign.

 

This document was drafted by Stephanie Vance, the Advocacy Guru at Advocacy Associates, in consultation with Anne Darconte, Les Francis, Chris Arterton (GWU Graduate School of Political Management), Tim Hysom (Congressional Management Foundation) and others.

And All I Got Was a Lousy T-Shirt: Campaign Embeds Look Back a Year Later

The Graduate School of Political Management is teaming up with Campus Progress to host an event featuring campaign embeds and campaign staff on Monday, November 16, 2009 at 6:30 pm in the City View Room in the Elliott School.  Ana Marie Cox, founder of Wonkette and national correspondent for Air America, will be moderating the event. 

Monday, November 16, 2009
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

The City View Room, 7th Floor
George Washington University
1957 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052

Join us for two panels moderated by Ana Marie Cox, founder of Wonkette and national correspondent for Air America.

The evening's discussion will focus on journalists who worked as embedded reporters during the campaign, and the staff who dealt with them on a daily basis.

Panelists include:

· Adam Aigner, Colbert Report, McCain embed
· Brett Hovell, ABC, McCain embed
· Nick Summers, Newsweek, Obama embed
· Mike Memoli, Real Clear Politics, Biden embed
· Kelly O'Donnell, NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent
· Jamie Smith, Communications Director for Senator Rockefeller, Hillary staffer
· Justin Germany, Outlaw Media, McCain staffer

Sponsored by Campus Progress, the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University, and the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet.

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following the event.

If you have questions, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Register Here!

The Laws that Shaped America

A Book Celebration with Dennis W. Johnson

Join GWU’s Graduate School of Political Management for an evening of food, drink, and conversation about the past, present, and future of politics and governance in America as we celebrate the release of three new books authored or edited by Dennis W. Johnson.

Details:

Monday, November 9, 2009

5:30 – 7:00 p.m.

Alumni House

George Washington University

1918 F Street, NW

Washington, DC 20052

 

Registration is requested for this event. Register here.

 

Agenda

5:30 p.m. - Reception
6:00 p.m. - Book discussion on The Laws that Shaped America with Dennis W. Johnson
7:00 p.m. - Reception continues

Books will be available for purchase at this event. 

Background

For better and sometimes for worse, Congress is a reflection of the aspirations, wants, and priorities of the American people. During each two-year session of Congress, thousands of pieces of legislation are proposed, many hundreds are given serious consideration, but far fewer are enacted into law. Most enactments have a limited impact, affect few, and are quietly forgotten in the flow of legislative activity.

 

However, a small number of laws have risen to the level of historical consequence. These are the laws that have shaped America.

 

GWU professor of political management, Dennis W. Johnson, explores those themes in his 2009 book, The Laws That Shaped America (Routledge).

 

Dr. Johnson published two other books in 2008-2009, the Routledge Handbook of Political Management and 2008 Presidential Election: Strategy, Tactics, New Voices, New Techniques, both from Routledge.

 

Later this year, Dr. Johnson will release Campaigning in the Twenty-First Century (Routledge), which will be co-authored with Gary Nordlinger. This work will explore the various ways that professional campaigns - from the presidency down to local contests - have changed during the past decade.

 

From 1995 through 2006, he was Associate Dean of the Graduate School, and from 1993 through 2000, Dr. Johnson was director of the master's degree program in Legislative Affairs. Before joining George Washington University, Dr. Johnson was chief of staff to a member of Congress and ran his own candidate and opposition research firm, focusing on Democratic statewide candidates.