Summary
It is important to ensure that members of all classes and social strata have a voice and that this voice is heard. For this purpose, the concepts of advocacy and lobbying are actively used as tools for addressing specific goals within the policymaking framework. However, unlike advocacy, which primarily involves the promotion of the plight of underprivileged groups, lobbying involves actively influencing the current policies and legal standards associated with a specific idea. As a rule, two types of lobbying are identified, namely, substantial and insubstantial ones (Pynes, 2011). In contrast to the former, which implies that the lobbying efforts are supported by the information provided by the IRS, insubstantial lobbying implies the lack of respective legal grounds (Pynes, 2011). The integration of lobbying into the political and economic context of American society raised multiple questions, ranging from the threat of nonprofit organizations losing tax exemptions to the probability of the 501(c)(4) regulation being questioned.
Opinion
As opposed to the notion of advocacy, which is typically met with a general air of approval, the notion of lobbying is typically deemed rather controversial. Since lobbying groups are typically paid for their active enforcement of a specific policy, their actions are not necessarily positive or even harmless. However, given the current focus on social justice and the promotion of the rights of vulnerable communities, lobbying could be regarded as an essential instrument in encouraging consistency in the specified process. Furthermore, the importance of IT and ICT tools in lobbying must not be overlooked since the specified tools allow the dissemination of data quickly and effectively. Thus, the impact of lobbying has become vast and extensive. For this reason, it is vital to be able to differentiate between lobbying activities and the concept of advocacy while also keeping in mind that legal standards for the related activities have percolated into the digital domain as well.
Reference
Pynes, J. (2011). Advocacy and lobbying: Making your voices heard. Taylor & Francis.