When “Tried and True” Advocacy Strategies Backfire
A core principle of policy advocacy is that to engage decision makers in the urgency, complexity, and controversy of problems, advocates must effectively tell the story of those issues. Policy stories, or narratives, paint mental pictures of what a problem is, who is affected, and how it came to be...
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University of Florida, College of Journalism and Communications
2021-07-01
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doaj-718b72ff824f4085b6e93318019d3b0b2021-07-14T13:31:32ZengUniversity of Florida, College of Journalism and CommunicationsJournal of Public Interest Communications 2573-43422021-07-015110.32473/jpic.v5.i1.p45When “Tried and True” Advocacy Strategies BackfireLiana B. Winett0Jeff Niederdeppe1Yiwei Xu2Sarah E. Gollust3Erika Franklin Fowler4School of Public Health, Oregon Health & Science University-Portland State UniversityDepartment of Communication, Cornell UniversityDepartment of Communication, Cornell UniversitySchool of Public Health, University of MinnesotaGovernment Department, Wesleyan University A core principle of policy advocacy is that to engage decision makers in the urgency, complexity, and controversy of problems, advocates must effectively tell the story of those issues. Policy stories, or narratives, paint mental pictures of what a problem is, who is affected, and how it came to be. Yet, the persuasive effects of narratives on one key group, state legislators, remain understudied. Drawing from the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF), media advocacy, and public interest communications, we sought to inform advocacy strategy by illuminating state legislators’ responses to messages about public investments in quality childcare for all. Contrary to expectations, we found that narratives can have unintended effects challenging or even diminishing legislator support. We discuss implications for advocacy strategy. https://journals.flvc.org/jpic/article/view/127877 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Liana B. Winett Jeff Niederdeppe Yiwei Xu Sarah E. Gollust Erika Franklin Fowler |
spellingShingle |
Liana B. Winett Jeff Niederdeppe Yiwei Xu Sarah E. Gollust Erika Franklin Fowler When “Tried and True” Advocacy Strategies Backfire Journal of Public Interest Communications |
author_facet |
Liana B. Winett Jeff Niederdeppe Yiwei Xu Sarah E. Gollust Erika Franklin Fowler |
author_sort |
Liana B. Winett |
title |
When “Tried and True” Advocacy Strategies Backfire |
title_short |
When “Tried and True” Advocacy Strategies Backfire |
title_full |
When “Tried and True” Advocacy Strategies Backfire |
title_fullStr |
When “Tried and True” Advocacy Strategies Backfire |
title_full_unstemmed |
When “Tried and True” Advocacy Strategies Backfire |
title_sort |
when “tried and true” advocacy strategies backfire |
publisher |
University of Florida, College of Journalism and Communications |
series |
Journal of Public Interest Communications |
issn |
2573-4342 |
publishDate |
2021-07-01 |
description |
A core principle of policy advocacy is that to engage decision makers in the urgency, complexity, and controversy of problems, advocates must effectively tell the story of those issues. Policy stories, or narratives, paint mental pictures of what a problem is, who is affected, and how it came to be. Yet, the persuasive effects of narratives on one key group, state legislators, remain understudied. Drawing from the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF), media advocacy, and public interest communications, we sought to inform advocacy strategy by illuminating state legislators’ responses to messages about public investments in quality childcare for all. Contrary to expectations, we found that narratives can have unintended effects challenging or even diminishing legislator support. We discuss implications for advocacy strategy.
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url |
https://journals.flvc.org/jpic/article/view/127877 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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1721302701475627008 |