Research
The progress of equity advocacy is driven by several activities: organizing, capacity building, communications, and research.
Research is an ongoing task throughout a policy campaign, and also serves an important purpose in defining the strategy, and potential success, of a policy initiative. The purpose of research in a campaign is twofold. Externally, research is a crucial ingredient to educate the public, the media, and individual policymakers, answering key questions about the problem and the efficacy of the proposed solution. Reliable data and facts about the issue and the conditions contributing to inequity are important to influence and convince policymakers of the need for change. Research is also important internally for sustaining advocacy activities. Internal research, like power analyses, which assess the political landscape to identify winnable issues, helps advocates determine the appropriate scale and targets for policy change.
Examples of related benchmarks include:
- At the BUILD THE BASE stage:
Initial power mapping reveals individuals, organizations, and interest groups that have the power, both formally and informally, to make, influence, or block decisions regarding possible policy change objectives.
- At the NAME AND FRAME THE EQUITY SOLUTIONS stage:
Data and information to understand the problem and possible policy change objectives are disaggregated (e.g., by population, place, race, etc.) and analyzed frequently during the campaign to illuminate the equity dimensions (e.g., consequences for people of different race, class, or gender) of the possible policy change objectives.
- At the MOVE THE EQUITY PROPOSAL stage:
Research and information regarding the problem and the proposal are written and shared strategically (e.g., research papers, issue briefs, educational materials, etc.) with target audiences.
- At the BUILD, ADVANCE, and DEFEND stage:
Traditional and community-based research reveal increased traction of community input in decision making.