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In a legal/law context:
An 'advocate' is the title of aspecific person who is authorized/appointed (in someway) to speak on behalf of a person in a legal process.See advocate.
In a political context:
An 'advocacy group' is anorganized collection of people who seek to influencepolitical decisions and policy, without seeking election topublic office. See interest group.
In a social care context:
Both terms (and more specificones such as 'independent advocacy') are used in the UKin the context of a network of interconnectedorganizations and projects which seek to benefit peoplewho are in difficulty (primarily in the context of disabilityand mental health).
In the context of inclusion:
Citizen Advocacy organizat-ions (citizen advocacy programs) seek to cause benefit byreconnecting people who have become isolated. Theirpractice was defined in two key documents: CAPE, andLearning from Citizen Advocacy Programs.
Transforming Passion into Action
Advocacy / Lobbying related to Education, Health, Food Security, Environment & NaturalResource Management, Women’s Empowerment, Civil Society Strengthening.
 
Advocacy is the pursuit of influencing outcomes — including public-policy and resourceallocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions — thatdirectly affect people’s current lives. (Cohen, 2001)Therefore, advocacy can be seen as a deliberate process of speaking out on issues of concern inorder to exert some influence on behalf of ideas or persons. Based on this definition, Cohen(2001) states that “ideologues of all persuasions advocate” to bring a change in people’s lives.However, advocacy has many interpretations depending on the issue at stake, which can bedifferent from this initial value-neutral definition.
Forms of advocacy
There are several forms of advocacy, which each represent a different approach in the waychange is brought into society. One of the most popular forms is social justice advocacy.Although it is true, the initial definitiondoes not encompass the notions of power relations, people’s participation and avision of a just society that promoted bysocial justice advocates. For them,advocacy represents the series of actionstaken and issues highlighted to change the“what is” into a “what should be”,considering that this “what should be” is amore decent and a more just society (ib.,2001.) Those actions, which vary with the political, economical and socialenvironment in which they are conducted,have several points in common.
Characteristics of Advocacy
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Question the way policy is administered
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Participate in the agenda setting as they raise significant issues
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Target political systems “because those systems are not responding to people’s needs”
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Advocacy is inclusive and engaging
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Propose policy solutions
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Open up space for public argumentation.
 
S.Rengasamy - Understanding Advocacy & Lobbying2
Functions of Advocacy Groups
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Give a voice to (misrepresented) citizeninterests2.
 
Mobilize citizens to participate in thedemocratic process3.
 
Support the development of a culture of democracy4.
 
Assist in the development of better publicpolicy5.
 
Ensure governments’ accountability to citizens.
Advocacy is:
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Having the opportunity to speak up for ourselves andrepresent others with whom we share the same concerns.
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Knowing what our rights are, and seeing that they arerespected.
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Being able to be ourselves and get to know what we wantfrom life.
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Having the strength and confidence to say NO.
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Having access to information and not being isolated.
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Being able to make our own choices and decisions.
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Having a say in deciding the services we receive.
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Being with people and having the chance to establishrelationships.
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Feeling empowered to change the way services are run.
Types of Advocacy
Some of the other forms of advocacy include:
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Ideological advocacy:
in this approach, groups fight, sometimes during protests, to advancetheir ideas in the decision-makingcircles.
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Mass advocacy:
is any type of actiontaken by large groups (petitions,demonstrations, etc.)
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Interest-group advocacy:
lobbying isthe main tool used by interests groupsdoing mass advocacy. It is a form of action that does not always succeed atinfluencing political decision-makersas it requires resources andorganization to be effective.
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Bureaucratic advocacy:
 peopleconsidered “experts” have more chanceto succeed at presenting their issues to decision-makers. They use bureaucratic advocacy toinfluence the agenda, however at a slower pace.
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Legislative advocacy:
legislative advocacy is the “reliance on the state or federal legislative process” as part of a strategy to create change.
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Media advocacy:
is “the strategic use of the mass media as a resource to advance a social or  public policy initiative”. For example, how media advocacy is used to prevent HIV AIDS andto fight alcohol and tobacco-related health issues.
Advocacy groups
Advocacy is led by advocates or, when they are organized in groups as is the case most of thetime, advocacy groups. Advocacy groups as defined by Young and Everritt (2004, 5) aredifferent from political parties which "seek to influence government policy by governing." Theyare "any organization that seeks to influence government policy, but not to govern." Thisdefinition includes social movements, sometimes network of organizations which are alsofocused on encouraging social change. Social movements try to either influence governments or,like the environmental movement, to influence people’s ideas or actions.In the recent past an increasing number of the population have become member of anorganization which has had an advocacy role andhas tried to achieve political change. Such a levelof participation is a positive indicator of thehealth of the democracy.
Transnational advocacy
Advocates and advocacy groups represent a widerange of categories and support several issues aslisted on World Advocacy. The Advocacy Institute, a US-based global organization, is dedicatedto strengthening the capacity of political, social, and economic justice advocates to influence and
 
S.Rengasamy - Understanding Advocacy & Lobbying3
change public policy (Cohen, de la Vega & Watson, 2001.)The phenomenon of globalization draws a special attention to advocacy beyond countries’ borders. The core existence of networks such as World Advocacy or the Advocacy Institutedemonstrates the increasing importance of transnational advocacy and international advocacy.Transnational advocacy networks are more likely to emerge around issues where externalinfluence is necessary to ease the communication between internal groups and their government.Groups of advocates willing to further their mission also tend to promote networks and to meetwith their internal counterparts to exchange ideasTypes of Advocacy including Lobbying
 Advocacy
Advocacy encompasses a broad range of activities that involve identifying, embracing, and promoting a cause. It is an effort to shape public perception to effect change that may or may notrequire changes in the law. Advocacy is about using effective tools to create social change.Lobbying is only one of these activities.The following activities do not involve lobbying:
• Public Education
A nonprofit develops a public information campaign to raise awareness of the rise in childhoodobesity. In this campaign they recommend a variety of approaches to reverse this trend.
• Issue Research
A nonprofit regularly creates and distributes briefs describing policy barriers to improving end-of-life care to its state’s legislative committees on health, insurance, and aging.
• Policy Education
At the request of a congressional committee investigating how to move children out of foster care into adoptive families more quickly, several nonprofit organizations from various statesdescribe their innovative foster care reform models to help policymakers make a more informeddecision as they grapple with policy decisions on this topic.•
Voter and Candidate Education
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