Building a Culture of Deliberate Advocacy

“There’s not enough time in the day” is a phrase we can all relate to, as none of us can be deliberate and productive all the time. In advocacy, this can present a problem, since civic engagement is usually ranked low on lists of personal priorities. As a result, we rely on schemas categorized under the umbrella of political partisanship to form our opinions about public policy and elections. A schema is a cognitive framework that helps us process daily information with relative ease. Schemas can be thought of as background categories that ultimately simplify information. But policy is complex, and the legislators with whom you align politically can get it wrong—and sometimes do. Making objective judgements about public policy becomes more challenging when you consider the persuasive effect of different types of campaigns.

Personalized Campaigning

Although political campaigns are typically a poor source for obtaining public policy information, they can be effective in eliciting desired behaviors among potential voters. These campaigns are usually informed by the knowledge that individuals have a range of what they consider to be acceptable, or they will determine a range when prompted to do so. A key to persuasive campaign messaging is to fall within that range. Doing so can persuade audiences to change or strengthen their beliefs. If you swing too far beyond that range, your message will usually be ignored or cause people to double down on beliefs that are in opposition to your message.

The psychology of influencing attitudes and eliciting desired behaviors has made considerable progress in recent years, providing more opportunities than ever to leverage persuasive psychology in a helpful manner. With recent innovations in data mining technology—along with increasingly partisan communication channels—policy campaigns can be very targeted, giving strategists less incentive to reign in more extreme rhetoric. Campaign strategists now have a better understanding of the motivating power some emotions—such as enthusiasm, anxiety, and anger—have. The drawback is that channel of new information may not always have your best interest at heart.

Countering Persuasive Campaigning

There are lots of ways to combat the appeal of persuasive campaigning. One of the easiest methods is being consciously deliberate. ACCC always demands intense deliberation when determining how health policy can affect cancer care. At ACCC, careful analysis involves multiple individuals to ensure we are making decisions that support the entire cancer care community. The members who serve on our government affairs committee regularly weigh in and provide a clinical lens for pending policy changes. We engage in thoughtful information sharing with aligned stakeholders. Then there are readers like yourself who send in thoughtful emails that add important insight. The key to successful policy and advocacy is twofold: avoid approaching new policies with a preferred conclusion and leverage the strengths of your colleagues.