Themes: Lobbying and Social Rights
Objectives
- To make participants understand the importance of lobbying
- To make participants familiar with the terminology of lobbying
- To make participants understand about the decision-making mechanisms
Duration and Planning
- 30 minutes : Purpose of lobbying
- 45 minutes : Who is lobbyist and what skills that they require?
- 15 minutes : Debriefing
Materials
- Flipcharts
- Handout
- Board markers
- Post-its
- Pens
Recommended Method
The facilitator explains to the purpose of lobbying and asks participants the following questions prior to the second phase of the activity :
- Is it to achieve social change?
- Is it to prevent something undesirable from happening?
- Is it to change something undesirable, which is already in existence?
According to the participants’ answers, the facilitator explains that, lobbying is used for several situations, but the definition of the lobbying :
“The objective of lobbying is to persuade decision makers to take or not to take particular actions.”
During this process, the facilitator divides participants to 4 separate groups and ask participants to define two definitions from their knowledge without using the internet resources in 15 minutes : lobbying and lobbyists. In that sense, the participants would create their own definitions. In that process, the participants should understand the role of the lobbyists in the decision-making processes and how it affects to the decision-making processes in the local, regional and national levels. The main purpose of this activity to initiate a discussion among the participants to make them understand about the purpose of lobbying and why do we do lobby to promote social change.
After the presentations is over, the facilitator provides the competence model for a lobbyist by referring to the knowledge, skills and attitudes. Than asks participants to fill the competences by themselves with their knowledge. The facilitator can use the following scheme to start the discussion:
A Lobbyist will need. . .
| Knowledge | Skills | Attitudes |
After the participants wrote their answers in 10 minutes in Post-its and flipcharts, the facilitator goes one by one, then presents the competence model that we have developed within the project in the handout section. The facilitator explains that, in this session, we will only talk about the lobbying and what lobbyers do and dive into the wider aspect of the lobbying process in the second session. Before closing the session, the participants are asked after both definition of the lobbying and lobbyist to wrap-up the session :
- What do you know about lobbying?
- How do you think lobbying affects policy-making?
- Have you seen examples of lobbying in action (e.g., in the news, movies)?
During the discussion and debriefing, the facilitator should keep an eye about the news and movies section that, the topic does not go out of the hand. In addition to that, the facilitator should inform him/herself about the lobbying prior to session in detailed.
Lobbyist Competences – Handout
You can use the following Competence Hand-out and extend the country specific needs.
| Knowledge | Skills | Behaviours / Attitudes |
| Knowing the subject matter well and having the facts. | Interpersonal skills | Assertiveness |
| Knowing your organisation well. | Verbal and Written Communication | Self-Confidence |
| Knowing the political context well. | Conflict Resolution | Patience |
| Knowing that who holds the power. | Critical Thinking and Problem Solving | Passion for the cause |
| Knowing the importance of the issue for the people | Planning and Organisational Skills | Dedication and persistence |
| Knowing the political process i.e. how decisions are made and what is possible | Good Networking Skills | Belonging to the community |
Additional Information and Readings
1. Hammond, H. (2022, June 12). Lobbying: a tactic for social change. The Commons. Retrieved : https://commonslibrary.org/lobbying-a-tactic-for-social-change/#The_Process_of_Lobbying
