The Phrase "Open Government" is NOT an Oxymoron

Happy Birthday!  The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) is now five years old.  But has it made government any more open or honest?  Many people might say “uh, no.”  In fact, most people would say “no.”  Lobbyists.info and the George Washington School of Political Management recently released a report (available at www.lobbyists.info) that looks at this question from the perspective of lobbyists.  Survey respondents do, in general, believe that HLOGA has greatly increased the amount of information available to the public and decreased the ability of lobbyists to impact legislative decisions (an outcome the American people seem to want). 

I’m sure you greet that statement with a fair amount of skepticism.  But do you really KNOW that hasn’t happened?  It’s in vogue these days to say that it’s impossible to learn what special interests are doing in D.C..  Before you say that (or even think it), go to the lobbying disclosure database at http://lobbyingdisclosure.house.gov/ or the Sunlight Foundation at www.sunlightfoundation.com.  I promise you’ll learn more than you want to about who is lobbying for or against what.

Projects to increase government openness -- like the Sunlight Foundation, www.OpenSecrets.org (a site that tracks campaign contributions) and www.Legistorm.org (a site that tracks information about Congressional staff) flourished after the passage of HLOGA.  Indeed, many of these organizations were instrumental to their passage.  So before you get all outraged about the lack of transparency, go see what’s out there.  And check out who is lobbying for the issues you like as well as against them.  You might be surprised.  It’s not all corporations and business interests.  Many lobbyists are representing day-to-day interests – and they need your help to make a difference.

***For more tips and strategies after the election, sign up for our FREE webinar, "Winning, No Matter Who Wins" on Thursday, November 15. More information here. 

The Advocacy Guru Discusses Special Interests

Stephanie Vance, aka The Advocacy Guru, sat down for an interview with professional keynote speaker and entertainer Craig Price. As a former Capitol Hill staffer and lobbyist, Stephanie shares her insights into how Washington D.C. works. She debunks myths about lobbying and describes what a "special interest" really is. The podcast will also provide you with tips to influence the decisions made in a Congressional office.

Listen to the blog cast here.

If you wish to learn more about influencing a Congress, visit Stephanie's blog based on her new book, The Influence Game. Follow Stephanie on Twitter.

You Don't Have to Pay to Speak, or Even be Heard

Today (March 16th), the Huffington Post linked to the video of a CBS investigation GOP Freshman and Fundraisers. This somewhat salacious piece suggested (wait, no, actually stated) that people who attend fundraisers gain the kind of access to legislators that regular citizens can only dream of. While this may seem like a "dog bites man" kind of story, it concerns me because it perpetuates the myth that you can't talk to your elected officials unless you attend a fundraiser. Believe it or not, your power of constituency is all you need to meet with, bend the ear of and, yes, even influence legislators.

How do I know this? For practically every minute of every day from about February through May, someone in my office is making appointments for advocates from all around the country to meet with policymakers. There are no fundraisers involved. The magic words are "we have a constituent in town who would like to meet with you." When we say those words, we get a meeting. Don't believe me? Here are some stats on the percentage of constituent-based meetings with legislative offices that we were able to schedule, without bribery, manipulation or lying. These are just a few of our events, but the statistics hold true for our other groups as well:

• American Association of Museums 2011: 96% of the meetings requested
• Lupus Foundation: 100% of meetings requested
• Synthetic Turf Council: 100% of meetings requested
• American Planning Association: 98% of meetings requested
• American Association of Museums 2012: 99.8% of the meetings requested
• YWCA: 100% of the meetings requested
• National Association of Electrical Distributors: 100% of the meetings requested

To me, these stats point out that you don't have to pay to speak. And if everyone keeps thinking that it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Oh, and speaking of the National Association of Electrical Distributors, here's a link to a video outlining THEIR point of view on meeting with Capitol Hill. Pretty good stuff.

Advocacy, Advocacy Everywhere

I had the pleasure of being in Oklahoma (Norman, to be exact) during the tornado "outbreak" that occured several weeks ago and had my first experience with tornado sirens, shelters and the like (shout out to the Oklahoma Mental Health and Substance Abuse Service to whom I was speaking: it wasn't your fault!). What was perhaps even more disturbing than spending an hour in a concrete bunker was the fact that our impending doom was discussed for hours ahead of time on the local news.


However, one positive thing I got from all this was an understanding of all the various ways to describe "twisters" (as we tornado afficianados call them). These include maxi, grinder, multi-vortex, wedge, barrel, rope, elephant, stovepipe, EF4 and EF5 (and presumambly lower EF's), meso cyclones, tornadic super cells and, my favorite, "very well organized." Thank goodness. I don't want my tornadoes to be a mess.


All this made me realize that there are dozens of different ways to describe advocacy: grassroots, grasstops, education, public relations, lobbying -- the list goes on and on. So I took a moment to think about some of the general approaches I think are important to know about and to provide some definitions, as follows:

1. Education: We often talk about the need to "educate" elected officials on the issues, but what does that mean? To me that means making sure they know who you are and what you do. It's a very important first step in effective advocacy, but it's only a first step. Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking "hey, once they know what I do they'll be supportive." Not so much. You'll need to take a few extra steps to make that happen.


2. Public Relations: Once your legislators know what you do, you want them to feel positively about it, right? That's where public relations comes in. These activities might include media outreach, advertising, coalition building or even community organizing. It's a critical step to getting legislators on your side.


3. Advocacy: Advocacy is all about getting your legislators to take a specific action. It could be a policy action, like support a specific bill, or it could be a relationship building action, like come visit our facility. Either way, the most effective way to be sure your policymakers "get it" is to get them engaged.


4. Lobbying: A lot of people think lobbying is a dirty word, but really it's not. To me, lobbying is all about the nitty-gritty of the legislative process (e.g., following the thousands of bills introduced or tracking down what section 672 of code number 435 will do), figuring out the specific ask, pulling together facts and figures on the issue and then putting together all the pieces for building support (citizen advocacy, education, PR, PACs, etc., etc.). Most citizen advocates will likely not be engaged in "lobbying" but you'll want to double-check the laws in your state because I don't want anyone to go to jail.

While these are just a few terms, I hope they're useful for making your advocacy approach as powerful as (and please not as destructive as) a tornado. Happy advocating!

Ethical Lobbying: Really, it's Possible!

If you’re based in the Washington, DC area and you haven’t signed up for the January 27th forum on grassroots ethics being held by the George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management, what are you waiting for? Take a minute to go to www.gspm.org/ethics and get registered for this free event! Go ahead, I’ll wait.

OK, you may be thinking “but ethics sounds really boring: why would I want to go to that?” Well, there’s a whole host of reasons! You should attend if:

1. you’re tired of snide comments about “all the corruption in Washington, DC” – and you want to be part of the solution.
2. you want to network with others engaged in grassroots advocacy activities – we have sponsors from all walks of life!
3. you want to learn more about techniques that work in grassroots advocacy – after all, what is most ethical is also most effective.
4. you want to make your mother proud by learning more about honesty, transparency and all the things that make us good people.

At the event, we’ll be discussing a proposed grassroots advocacy code of ethics. You can see the code and comment on it when you register at www.gspm.org/ethics. This is your opportunity to shape these ideals for generations to come – so don’t delay. Register today!

Dogbert the Lobbyist

Scott Adams, the comic strip creator of "Dilbert" fame, has been running a series featuring Dogbert as a corporate lobbyist. You will not be surprised to know that the series is, well, not very flattering toward the political process (or dogs, for that matter). You can see some of the latest strips at http://members.comics.com/members/common/affiliateArchive.do?site=washpost&comic=dilbert

Believe me, I'm not going to get all righteous here and try to make the case that not everyone who lobbies is the next Jack Abramoff. What disturbs me is that many people reading these cartoons (and laughing) will think to themselves "gee, that really is true." It's perpetuating a negative stereotype which, I suppose, is part of the job of comic strip writers. If you find yourself inclined to giggle (as I do), remember that while this is humorous, the real story of lobbying in our nation's capitol is not reflected in Adams' panels. Frankly, Dogbert the lobbyist would be kicked out of any Congressman's office on his four furry paws...