The Advocacy Initiative
4th Knowledge Exchange Forum
A legitimacy test? National and
European perspectives on
participation
Hugh Frazer
NUI (Maynooth)
&
EU Network of Independent Experts on Social Inclusion
Purpose of Presentation
• Explore why is participation important for your
advocacy work?
– Why social justice activists should involve people who
experience the issues in their advocacy
• Not going to talk about:
– How: different participation strategies you can use
– Why the Irish government is curtailing opportunities
for participation in public policy making
My experience of participation
• Combat Poverty Agency
– working for change: an “intermediary” advocacy agency
– combined 5 things:
•
•
•
•
•
analysis and evidence
empowerment and mobilisation of those affected
demonstration projects with participation at heart
greater public awareness
political engagement
• European Social Inclusion Policies 2001-2013
– Encouragement of Member States to involve civil society
and to listen those experiencing poverty
– Support for EU networks advocating change
– EU Meetings of People Experiencing Poverty
– Child poverty Recommendation & involvement of children
Advocacy is about getting heard
• It is about persuading policy makers and
opinion formers to:
– listen to you
– take you seriously
– engage in a dialogue with you about what changes
are needed and how they can be achieved and
implemented
Advocacy is about raising awareness
and winning the arguments
Raising awareness
Intellectual/academic
argument
Emotional/moral
argument
Economic argument
Political argument
• Greater public and political awareness of the issue and what needs to be
done about it , why and by whom
• Providing evidence of the need for change
• Debunking myths
• Challenging “There is no alternative” (e.g. Plan B)
• Countering arguments of opponents
• Showing change will be better than status quo
• Asserting people’s rights
• Challenging stereotypes and prejudices that hinder change
• Appealing to people’s humanity and sense of fairness and solidarity
• Benefit to the society/economy of making the change v cost to society of
doing nothing
• Benefit to individuals of making the change v cost of doing nothing
• Social, equality & anti-discrimination policies are an investment not a cost
• What is the political benefit of addressing issue?
• What is the political cost of not addressing the issue?
• How will the legitimacy of our democratic system be enhanced by the
change?
KEY MESSAGE
Enhancing the participation of those
affected by the changes you are
advocating for will greatly increase
your chances of:
- getting heard
- winning the arguments for
change
- getting changes implemented
and sustained
Why participation?
Greater credibility
Enhances
democracy
More politcal
clout
Empowers people
and asserts their
rights
Better (policy)
arguments
Greater emotional
impact
Greater credibility
• Participation gives your organisation credibility and
legitimacy to speak out on the issue as:
– it enriches your organisation’s knowledge & allows you to
credibly claim to be the voice of those affected
– it transforms your organisation into an expression of
citizens needs and concerns
– it ensures that you are constantly aware of the reality on
the ground and thus can sustain a long-term advocacy
– it enables you to answer the questions:
•
•
•
•
How many people do you speak for?
How do you know that this is what people want?
What right have you to speak on behalf of those affected?
Why should I listen to you when we know better?
More political clout
• Participation gives you more political clout
because:
– it demonstrates your ability to mobilise people to
press for changes
• e.g. lobbying, demonstrating, protesting, voting
– it makes you more difficult to ignore
– gives you more power
• greater ability to disrupt/embarrass
– thus it gives you greater leverage and influence
with the political system
Better (policy) arguments
• First hand experience of issues necessary as well
as data and analysis
– gives you feed back on impact of existing policies
– leads to better understanding of issues
– leads to policy solutions rooted in reality
• Without participation policy solutions are often
good in theory but weak in practice
• Quantitative and legalistic arguments are
stronger if combined with qualitative and
experience based arguments
Greater emotional impact
• Participation leads to personal testimonies which
can:
–
–
–
–
–
make abstract arguments come alive and immediate
illustrate academic and legalistic arguments
demonstrate personal costs of maintaining status quo
engage the media
mobilise public opinion
• Policy makers are human
Empowers people &
asserts their rights
• At the heart of most social justice advocacy is the goal
of empowerment
– supporting people to participate in advocacy organisations
is an important step to build self-confidence & self-esteem
• Participating as an equal in the society where you live
& having a say in the policies that affect you is a
fundamental right
– “nothing about us without us”
• Participation of those affected by an issue forces policy
makers to meet and engage with them
– this is key to breaking stigmatising perceptions they may
hold about them and which often block policy changes
Enhances democracy
• Meaningful participation in advocacy
organisations:
– enriches & legitimises (participative) democracy
– fosters democratic debate & dialogue
– helps to redress power inequalities in society
– helps to build a more inclusive & fairer society
Participation gives you
LEGITIMACY
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Leverage
&
Empowerment &
Galvanises
&
Information &
Transparency &
Impact
&
Mandate
&
Accountability &
Clout
&
Yes!
&
learning
equality
governance
ideas
togetherness
insights
mobilisation
authenticity
credibility
yes!