LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY: PRACTICAL SKILLS

Legislative advocacy carries the "pleading" into the legislative or public policy arena. The work is about developing proposed changes to existing law or establishing new law to address an issue, and implementing those changes through the drafting, introduction, presentation, defense, and debate of legislation

Capacity To

• Assess legislative and regulatory issues in their legal, process, policy, political, and personality aspects;
• Research and analyze legislative or regulatory issues in an accurate and comprehensive manner;
• Apply the research in a manner that takes into account of law, policy, political and personality factors and advances the agenda of a client;
• Produce a broad range of written analytical and advocacy materials;
• Present research, analysis, options, and recommendations orally in a concise and precise fashion to the client or to third parties on behalf of the client;
• Advise the client on their options; and,
• Implement client decisions, including where appropriate advocating for and negotiating on behalf of the client.

For each of these skills the Legislative Advocate must be proficient in understanding in their separate and integrated aspects their implications:

• Law – What does the proposed law or regulatory text say? How has it been interpreted?
• Process – What are the relevant formal and informal legislative and/or administrative procedures, and how will they channel decision making and shape the client's options?
• Policy – What does the client want the law to be?
• Politics – What is feasible for the client to achieve in the legislative or regulatory arena, based on the partisan, electoral, or bureaucratic forces at play?
• Personality – How will the particular individuals involved shape the advocacy approach and potential outcomes?

Skills Development

• Basic principles and processes of legislative lawmaking;
• Public policy considerations that impact the legislative process and legislative lawmaking;
• Writing memos and position papers on legislative issues;
• Legislative structures and processes;
• Legal and non-legal research to support and analyze legislative proposals;
• Principles of and process for drafting legislation;
• Persuasion and the components of written and oral persuasive discourse;
• Importance of using plain, clear and concise language;
• Writing persuasive and informative papers to educate and persuade lawmakers on various legislative issues including “talking points,” summaries of legislation, press releases and other documents to help policymakers promote legislation;
• Ethical issues faced by various "players" in the legislative process.