THE RATIONALE FOR PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY TRAINING

Public Policy Advocacy is an increasingly visible and influential feature of every political system around the world, practised by tens of thousands of people. Most Public Policy Advocates are college graduates, and many have advanced degrees. Of these advanced degrees, the most prevalent is legal training, with other common backgrounds being communications, teaching, public relations and journalism.

Public Policy Advocates must be able to understand their clients' interests as well as the laws and policies they hope to influence. They must be able to communicate effectively with their audience, both orally and in writing. It is also necessary for them to understand the legislative and political process.

Yet many Public Policy Advocates do not undergo formal training. There is no regimen of training for a Public Policy Advocate. There is no standard methodology in use. And because there is no prerequisite degree or training to become a Public Policy Advocate, many people believe that anyone can be a Public Policy Advocate. Technically, that is correct. There is no "entrance exam" one must pass before beginning to work in government relations. But, in some ways, that creates more of a barrier; because an individual cannot produce credentials on his or her qualifications, potential employers or clients must rely on the applicant's performance record. If a Public Policy Advocate  has no record of public policy advocacy experience, there is little to commend him or her for the work.

Today, there is a substantial gap in curricula regarding Public Policy Advocacy. Development of such a curriculum faces three challenges: Faculties that offer advocacy courses lack practical public policy advocacy skills and experience; the literature on effective public policy advocacy is limited and concentrates mostly on theory rather than on practice and is often the work of scholars; and thirdly a successful curriculum must be scalable to meet the needs of many people with dissimilar backgrounds. As a result and although many people engage in public policy advocacy, there is a dearth of highly professionals competent in policy development and public policy advocacy. Hence the need for improving professional training and education in policy analysis, policy development, and the application of policy. It is critical to develop policy-public policy advocacy competence skills in areas such as communicating with policy makers or interpreting laws, regulations, or policies related to specific issues.

It has been said that for effective business political activities the practitioner needs the knowledge skills and abilities of the detective, diplomat, doctor, educator, entrepreneur, journalist, orchestra conductor, reporter, and salesperson, among others !

Last but not least the development of advocacy skills and expertise is critical to meeting the challenges of society. Indeed, it can be argued that it is important for democracy or society that those who seek to influence the public policy making process do so professionally in order that the companies and organisations they represent are heard as clearly as possible by policy makers.