Managing public opinion and understanding the balance between its influence and your advocacy goals is a delicate matter. It is a task fraught with uncertainty because, as a policy advocate, you must navigate through the territory of politicians, bureaucrats, and lobbyists whose primary goals are to appease and please their constituents.
The policy advocate must have a plan or a policy road map to help navigate through a complicated system of institutions, legislatures, and funding bodies that provide the ecology of policies in local, state, and national settings. Having a solid plan is the first step in preparation for successfully handling the sensitive issues that may arise when public opinion influences the policy process.
For this Discussion, you will identify how public opinion influences the process and political approaches involved in addressing the social problem you selected earlier in the course.
Review Chapter 4 in the Jansson text.
Review the article by Rome and Hoechstetter in the Learning Resources this week.
Search for and select at least one scholarly article that explores the intersection of your selected social problem and the influence of public opinion.
Post a brief reminder of your social problem and address the following:
How does public opinion influence political approaches to the problem? Explain.
What policy advocacy approaches and skills can you use to address the problem with political leaders?
What are the social justice implications of your approach?
