Compare And Contrast The Nature Of Lobbying And Advocacy

Two ways for people, communities and organizations to make their voices heard to those who matter are advocacy and lobbying. The nature of advocacy and lobbying are very similar that people often use these words interchangeably. Furthermore, both can have similar goals, but each is a different process. The fact remains that lobbying and advocacy are different and these differences will be discussed in this post.
Lobbying is an attempt to influence the opinion of lawmakers. Lobbyist try to shape policy and impact government by making certain that key individuals who are policymakers are aware and understand the concerns of the voters they serve (Mason, Gardner, Outlaw, & O'Grady, 2016). Lobbying is specifically aimed at changing the opinions of legislators in favor of a particular law. There are two types of lobbying the first is direct lobbying, it involves influencing a legislative body or other government official. Grassroots lobbying is where organizations ask the general public to contact their elected officials on a legislative issue. An advocate tries to influence the opinion of the government, lawmakers, and public, they argue for a cause or idea, an advocate can range from a single voice to a large organization. Nurses working at the political level can utilize class advocacy to alter the system to serve the
Advocacy unites people with the same beliefs and wants, it promotes harmony as they work for the achievement of their goal. Moreover, advocacy promotes creative thinking that brings about changes in laws. Lobbying helps find real solutions that overcomes the root causes of a problem, which results in helping people. Furthermore, lobbying is a democratic tradition, the act of telling our policymakers how to write and change our laws is at the heart of our democratic system (Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest,