Advocacy in the Natural Resources Arena
ANR 491, Section 730
Fall 2022
Time: Tuesdays 7:00pm-8:30pm
Location: Virtual through Synchronous Zoom Meetings (Link at End)
Instructor: Mark Rey
Executive in Residence
E-mail: markrey8@aol.com
Office hours: Available by Phone at 202-669-9902, or by e-mail
Course Description
This course will review and evaluate the role of advocacy and advocacy groups affecting public decisions on natural resources and environmental policy. The course will review: (1) the types of advocacy groups operating in the natural resources arena; (2) tools and techniques used in environmental advocacy; (3) tactics commonly used in advocacy campaigns; and (4) ethical questions that often arise during advocacy work.
The course will be taught through a ninety-minute lecture and discussion session each Tuesday evening from 7pm until 8:30 pm. To insure in depth interaction, enrollment will be limited to a maximum of twenty students.
Course Goals
The goals of this course are to:
Familiarize students with the role of advocacy in the development and implementation of public policy in the natural resources arena.
Explore the role played by organized advocacy groups in developing natural resources policy.
Review the tools and techniques used by advocates and advocacy groups.
Discuss the tactics used in natural resources advocacy campaigns.
Evaluate the effectiveness of advocates and advocacy groups.
Explore the common ethical questions faced by practitioners of advocacy work.
A student who successfully completes this course will be able to: (a) understand the role that advocacy plays in policy development; (b) recognize the common tactics, tools, and techniques used in advocacy; and (c) evaluate the quality and efficacy of advocacy work as it is carried out.
A fully successful student who chooses a career in advocacy will leave the course equipped with knowledge useful to pursue such a career. A fully successful student who chooses a career in public service will leave the course with a clear understanding of how advocates affect the development of public policy.
Course Elements and Grades
ANR 491 is an upper-level class worth one university credit hour. Attendance and active participation are essential elements of this class. Excused absences will be granted only rarely and on a pre-approved basis.
The components of the class and their relevance to the final grade are as follows:
Mid-session paper
. This paper will be due on the date scheduled for the final examination. In this 6-8 page paper, students will be asked to select one advocacy tool or technique and critically assess:
How advocates are using the tool today;
How the use of the tool by advocates has changed over the last three decades; and
How the tool has influenced the development of natural resources policy during the same period of time.
Tentative Schedule
The schedule and subject matter for each week of the course follows.
Week 1 (September 6)
What roles do advocacy and advocacy groups play in our democratic system? Have these roles changed over time? Are they different in other democracies?
Week 2 (September 13)
What are the different kinds of advocacy groups prominent in the United States today? How do their structures and missions differ?
Week 3 (September 20)
Why do advocacy groups exist? Why is their role in policy development growing?
Week 4 (September 27)
What do “lobbyists” do? What are some of the broad approaches that advocacy groups use to influence how public decisions are made?
Week 5 (October 4)
(Tools and Techniques) What are the mechanisms, rules for, and limitations associated with, lobbying both elected and appointed public officials?
Week 6 (October 11)
(Tools and Techniques) How do advocacy groups participate in, and attempt to influence the outcome of, elections for public office?
Week 7 (October 18)
(Tools and Techniques) How do advocacy groups try to influence the media?
Week 8 (October 25)
(Tools and Techniques) What is “grassroots lobbying?” How is it done? Who can do it? How is it funded?
Week 9 (November 1)
(Tools and Techniques) “Let’s all just vote!” How have ballot initiatives and referenda affected both advocacy and representative democracy?
Week 10 (November 8)
(Tools and Techniques) What is the role and value of public opinion research? What are some of the basic research techniques? How do advocates use their research?
In a broader sense, what constitutes effective tactics in a well designed advocacy campaign?
Week 11 (November 15)
In a broader sense, what constitutes effective tactics in a well designed advocacy campaign?
Week 12 (November 22)
How should an advocate weigh means and ends? Does a worthy end justify any means? Or does a successful end always justify the means retrospectively?
Week 13 (November 29)
What constitutes effective advocacy? Put differently, what makes a good lobbyist? How is such a thing measured?
Week 14 (December 6)
What are the specific trademarks and attributes of effective advocacy?
Course Readings
Students will be assigned occasional topical articles as the course progresses. The following five texts are required reading and will be the subject material of several of the lectures.
Rules for Radicals; Saul Alinsky; Random House, New York, New York; 1971
The Lobbyists: How Influence Peddlers Get Their Way in Washington; Jeffrey Birnbaum; Three Rivers Press; Washington, DC; 1993
Total Lobbying: What Lobbyists Want (And How They Try to Get It); Anthony Nownes; Cambridge University Press; New York, New York; 2006
The Prince; Niccolo Machievelli; various editions available
Thank You For Smoking; Christopher Buckley; Harper Collins; New York, New York; 1995
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8475382632
Meeting ID: 847 538 2632
Find your local audio dial-in number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/keHNgdFcfq
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