Technology is revolutionizing the practice of political advocacy, a fact that has important ramifications for the nonprofit sector. This exploratory study examines the current application of electronic advocacy techniques in the affiliates of a national social work professional association and considers what factors tend to predict the affiliates that are most successful at adopting these techniques. The study found that all of the affiliates were using some of these technology-based advocacy techniques in their advocacy practice and that the factors that predicted utilization depended on whether affiliates were planning new technology or actually using new technology.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Allen, J. L.
(1998, May 22).
Astroturf yields fake grassroots activity
. National Catholic Reporter, 34,
4-4
.
2.
Aravosis, J.
(1998, March). Johns top tips for effective cyber-disobedience “cyber-disobedience: taking politics online” [Online]. Retrieved March 1, 1998, from the World Wide Web: http://www.wiredstrategies.com/toptips.html
3.
Babbie, E.
(1989). The practice of social research (4th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth
.
4.
Boland, K. M.
(1998). Electronic advocacy: An introduction to the use of electronic techniques or social change.
Boxboro, MA: New England Network for Child, Youth and Family Services
.
5.
Bonchek, M. S.
(1995, April).
Grassroots in cyberspace: Using computer networks to facilitate political participation
. Paper presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago [Online]. Retrieved January 22, 1997 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/msb/pubs/grassroots.html
6.
Boris, E.
, &
Mosher-Williams, R.
(1998).
Nonprofit advocacy organizations: Assessing the definitions, classifications and data
. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 27,
488-507
.
7.
Browning, G.
(1996). Electronic democracy: Using the Internet to influence American politics.
Wilton, CT: Pemberton Press
.
8.
Casteuble, T.
(1997).
How associations are taking to technology
. Association Management, 49,
43-48, 105-105
.
9.
Ezell, M.
(1994).
Advocacy practice of social workers
. Families in Society, 75,
36-46
.
10.
Fitz Gerald, E.
, &
McNutt, J. G.
(1997, March).
Electronic advocacy in policy practice: A framework for teaching technologically based practice
. Paper presented at the 1997 CSWE Annual Program Meeting, Chicago.
11.
Grobman, G. M.
, &
Grant, G. B.
(1998). The nonprofit Internet handbook.
Harrisburg, PA: White Hat Communications
.
12.
Haynes, K. S.
, &
Mickelson, J. S.
(1997). Affecting change (3rd ed.).
New York: Longmans
.
13.
Jenkins, J. C.
(1987). Non profit organizations and policy advocacy. In
W. W. Powell
(Ed.), The non-profit sector: A research handbook (pp. 296-320).
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
.
14.
Light, P.C.
(1998). Sustaining innovation.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
.
15.
McCarthy, J. D.
, &
Castelli, J.
(1997, December).
Studying advocacy in the nonprofit sector: Refocusing the agenda
. Paper presented at the 26th Annual Conference of the Association for Research on NonProfit Organizations and Voluntary Action, Indianapolis, IN.
16.
McNutt, J. G.
(1996, February).
Social work education in an information society: What must we do to prepare?
Paper presented at the 1996 CSWE Annual Program Meeting, Washington, DC.
17.
McNutt, J. G.
, &
Boland, K. M.
(1998).
Teaching about advocacy and the Internet: Strategies for social welfare policy courses
. Social Welfare Policy: The Newsletter of the Social Welfare Policy and Practice Group, 4,
3-6
.
18.
Newell, S.
, &
Swan, J.
(1995).
Professional associations as important mediators of the innovation process
. Science Communication, 16,
371-387
.
19.
Powell, W. W.
, &
DiMaggio, P.
(Eds.). (1991). The new institutionalism in organizational analysis.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press
.
20.
Raney, R. F.
(1999, June 3). Flash campaigns: On-line activism at warp speed. The New York Times/Cybertimes [Online]. Retrieved June 4, 1999, from the World Wide Web: http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/06/cyber/articles/03campaign.html
21.
Rees, S.
(1997, December).
Effective nonprofit advocacy
. Paper presented at the 26th Annual Conference of the Association for Research on NonProfit Organizations and Voluntary Action, Indianapolis, IN.
22.
Rees, S.
(1998). Effective nonprofit advocacy.
Washington, DC: Aspen Institute/Nonprofit Sector Research Fund
[Online]. Retrieved form the World Wide Web: http://www.Aspeninstorg/dir/polpro/NSRF/enpatoc.html
23.
Rees, S.
(1999).
Strategic choices for nonprofit advocates
. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 28,
65-73
.
24.
Robinson, M.
,
Swan, J.
, &
Newell, S.
(1996).
The role of networks in the diffusion of technological innovation
. Journal of Management Studies, 33,
333-359
.
25.
Rogers, E. M.
(1995). The diffusion of innovation (4th ed.).
New York: Free Press
.
26.
Schwartz, E.
(1996). NetActivism: How citizens use the Internet.
Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly
.
27.
Smucker, R.
(1994). Nonprofit lobbying. In
R. Herman
(Ed.), The Jossey Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management (pp. 208-226).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
.
28.
Specht, H.
, &
Courtney, M.
(1994). Unfaithful angels.
New York: Free Press
.
29.
Turner, R.
(1998). Democracy at work: Nonprofit use of Internet technology for public policy purposes.
Washington, DC: OMB Watch
.
30.
Zeff, R.
(1996). The nonprofit guide to the Internet.
New York: Wiley
.
