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Advocacy

Advocacy is a political process by an individual or a large group for example social workers which normally aims to influence public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions; it may be motivated from moral, ethical or faith principles or simply to protect an asset of interest. Advocacy can include many activities that a person or organization undertakes including media campaigns, public speaking, commissioning and publishing research or poll or the 'filing of friend of the court briefs'. Lobbying (often by lobby groups) is a form of advocacy where a direct approach is made to legislators on an issue which plays a significant role in modern politics. Research is beginning to explore how advocacy groups use social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action.

Forms of Advocacy

There are several forms of advocacy, which each representing a different approach in the way change is brought into society. One of the most popular forms is social justice advocacy. Although it is true, the initial definition does not encompass the notions of power relations, people's participation and a vision of a just society as promoted by social justice advocates. For them, advocacy represents the series of actions taken and issues highlighted to change the "what is” into a “what should be", considering that this “what should be” is a more decent and a more just society Those actions, which vary with the political, economic and social environment in which they are conducted, have several points in common..

They:

  •  Question the way policy is administered
  •  Participate in the agenda setting as they raise significant issues
  •  Target political systems "because those systems are not responding to people's needs"
  •  Are inclusive and engaging
  •  Propose policy solutions
  •  Open up space for public argumentation.
Wikipedia