PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY AND EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE

Public Policy Advocacy plays a vital role in promoting effective representative government. By providing focused expertise and analysis to help public officials make informed decisions, Public Policy Advocates sustain and advance the policy process.

The most basic function of the Public Policy Advocate is to educate by providing information and it is axiomatic that legislators benefit when they can consider information from a broad range of interested parties. Government has become sufficiently complex that without the information Public Policy Advocates bring to legislators, decision-making would be at best poorly informed. Admittedly, legislators and staff are not dependent on Public Policy Advocates' information and often do their own research. However, Public Policy Advocates often have information not available to legislators and staff and they perform a critical function by confirming information and even informing lawmakers of unintended consequences of their proposals. Without such a feedback, legislators and regu-lators might fail to achieve their objectives and could even do more harm than good. Without input from the erstwhile 'beneficiary' of a new law or regulation, the provision could produce unwelcomed results.

Because legislation is extraordinarily complex the staff available to lawmakers is very limited. And the only way that they can really get to the bottom of a lot of complex issues is to rely on Public Policy Advocates. Public Policy Advocates can assist by sifting information and noie, putting information into a coherent framework, and by challenging or checking factrs on impossibly short time deadline. 

Most lawmakers' sstff view Public Policy Advocates as partners, collaborators or educators. Furthermore, Public Policy Advocates are uniquely able to bridge the gap of divided government, by shaping and building consensus on positions that accommodate competing interests.

From another vantage, public policy advocacy is also essential to the ability of individuals, interest groups and businesses to successfully petition and monitor their government. Public Policy Advocates play a critical 'intermediating role' by enabling people and businesses to understand how government works and what government is woerking on, and then helping these people and businesses identify and communicate their interests to government in an effective manner. As the scope of government increases and a larger and larger number of individuals and businesses are touched by government regulations, sophisticated involvement in the policy process has become even more critical. One of the biggest challenges for people when they're faced with a public policy issue is defining what the issue is from the perspective of people in government. The main thing that a client should be looking for in a Public Policy Advocate or government relations consultant is for help to think the way people in government have to think when they're looking at an issue. It's the only way you're going to win the day on an issue. What government needs is a kind of real political advice that is based not just on what business wants but what government can deliver and what everyone can settle for. There still isn't enough analysis of why government takes a particular stand on policy, and depending on the source of that stand, whether it can be adjusted or not.

This illustrates how the increasing complexity of government further supports the need for skilled policy advocates to enable the public to effectively monitor, comprehend, and petition the government.

Succesful advocacy ultimately depends on the ability to explain how a given position advances the public interest, to respond to counter arguments by persuasive and skillful advocates and to do so credibly, consistently and concisely.