In 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote these words in Democracy in America:

Americans of all ages, all stations in life, and all types of dispositions are forever forming associations.  There are not only commercial and industrial associations in which all take part, but   others of a thousand different types – religious, moral, serious, futile, very general and very limited,   immensely large and very minute.  Americans combine to give fetes, found seminaries, build  churches, distribute books, and send missionaries to the antipodes.  Hospitals, prisons, and  schools take shape in that way.  Finally, if they want to proclaim a truth or propagate some feelin  by the encouragement of a great example, they form an association.  In every case, at the head any new undertaking, where in France you would find the government or in England some territorial  magistrate, in the United States you are sure to find an association.

 
If de Tocqueville thought associations were important in America in 1835, what would he think today?!  We have at least one association for everything in our nation.  We even have an association for association executives (ASAE)!

Primary functions of many professional associations include direct and grassroots lobbying.  Generally speaking, direct lobbying occurs when professional lobbyists try to influence decision makers; grassroots lobbying occurs when lobbyists encourage others, such as members of associations who are not professional lobbyists, to exert influence on decision makers.  Most associations, even not-for-profit associations, are allowed to conduct direct and grassroots lobbying activities; however, some types of not-for-profit organizations have limits on the amount of money they may expend on lobbying without putting their tax-exempt status in jeopardy.  (We’ll explore more about these rules and regulations in lesson 9.)

Associations conduct three types of grassroots programs:

1.   Quantitative – get as many members as possible to communicate key messages to decision makers; flood decision makers with letters, faxes, phone calls, and such.

2.   Qualitative – get influential persons who have relationships established with decision makers to communicate key messages on your behalf.

3.   Coalitions – several associations or groups with common interests coming together to communicate key messages to decision makers.

Clearly, the most successful associations will include all three of these strategies in their grassroots programs.

The assignment for this week is a 3-part writing assignment, as follows:

 1.   Consider a professional association to which you belong, or one with which you are familiar, that conducts grassroots lobbying programs.  Describe how this association achieves the seven components of effective grassroots programs (sections 7.5 through 7.14 in the text).

2.   For an issue you have studied previously in this course (refer back to your assignment for lesson 4), describe how an association could use “qualitative” (rather than “quantitative”) grassroots lobbying successfully in advocating for that particular issue.  Describe the issue, provide names and/or titles of individuals who could assist with the issue, and include why their involvement would be desirable.

3.   For the same issue you used in #2 above, list associations and groups that could form a coalition to advocate for that issue.  Include why each association or group should make a positive contribution to the coalition.  Include a discussion of pitfalls to the coalition and how those downsides could be addressed.

Please double-space your writing assignment.  The assignment needs to be as lengthy as it needs to be for you to communicate a thorough response.  A high-quality and parsimonious response is desired over a lengthy tome that lacks thoughtful and meaningful content.  Please send this assignment as an e-mail attachment to Jay Jackman at JJackman.NAAE@uky.edu.  Since this assignment was posted to the course website later than it should have been (Jay’s apologies; he had his dates mixed up), this assignment may be completed and submitted any time on or prior to Friday, July 17.