CCAP Advocacy & Public Policy 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes 'inside advocacy' strategies?
- Organizing public protests and demonstrations
- Building direct relationships with legislators and agency officials to influence policy (Correct answer)
- Using social media to pressure elected officials
- Mobilizing large numbers of constituents to flood phone lines
Correct answer: Building direct relationships with legislators and agency officials to influence policy
Inside advocacy involves working directly with policymakers through meetings, testimony, and relationship-building rather than public pressure tactics.
Question 2: A policy window, as described in Kingdon's Multiple Streams Framework, opens when:
- A new grant is awarded to fund policy research
- The problem, policy, and political streams converge simultaneously (Correct answer)
- A nonprofit completes its five-year strategic plan
- Legislation is introduced in both chambers of Congress
Correct answer: The problem, policy, and political streams converge simultaneously
Kingdon's framework holds that agenda change occurs when a problem is recognized, a solution is available, and the political climate is favorable — all at the same time.
Question 3: What does the term 'policy entrepreneur' mean in the context of community action advocacy?
- A for-profit consultant who charges fees for lobbying services
- An individual who invests time and resources to push a policy idea onto the agenda (Correct answer)
- A state agency official who allocates discretionary funding
- A nonprofit that sells policy reports to legislators
Correct answer: An individual who invests time and resources to push a policy idea onto the agenda
Policy entrepreneurs champion specific policy solutions and seize policy windows to advance them, often across organizational and sector boundaries.
Question 4: A CAA wants to educate the public about child poverty without lobbying. Which activity stays within IRS 501(c)(3) permissible bounds?
- Distributing voter guides rating candidates on their anti-poverty voting records
- Publishing a factual report on child poverty trends without urging specific legislation (Correct answer)
- Endorsing a mayoral candidate who supports expanded childcare
- Paying for radio ads urging listeners to call their state senator about a specific bill
Correct answer: Publishing a factual report on child poverty trends without urging specific legislation
Nonpartisan public education, including factual research and issue reports with no call to action on specific legislation, is fully permissible for 501(c)(3) organizations.
Question 5: In the context of community organizing for policy change, a 'one-on-one' meeting primarily serves to:
- Negotiate a contract with a government agency
- Build relationships and identify individual self-interest to develop leaders (Correct answer)
- Conduct a formal program intake interview
- Evaluate staff performance
Correct answer: Build relationships and identify individual self-interest to develop leaders
One-on-one relational meetings are foundational organizing tools used to build trust, surface motivations, and cultivate community leaders.
Question 6: The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 established Community Action Agencies with a mandate of 'maximum feasible participation,' which means:
- CAAs must spend the maximum allowable percentage of funds on administration
- Low-income people must be meaningfully involved in designing and governing anti-poverty programs (Correct answer)
- Communities should maximize the number of federal programs they apply to
- CAAs are required to operate at maximum organizational capacity
Correct answer: Low-income people must be meaningfully involved in designing and governing anti-poverty programs
Maximum feasible participation was a landmark democratic principle requiring that the poor themselves have a genuine voice in shaping programs designed to help them.
Question 7: Which type of power analysis is most useful for a CAA before launching an advocacy campaign?
- Financial power analysis identifying the CAA's largest donors
- Stakeholder power map identifying supporters, opponents, and swing votes (Correct answer)
- Organizational chart review of CAA internal structure
- Media market analysis of local TV ratings
Correct answer: Stakeholder power map identifying supporters, opponents, and swing votes
A stakeholder power map helps advocates understand who holds decision-making power, who is aligned or opposed, and where persuasion efforts should be focused.
CCAP Advocacy & Public Policy 3
Which of the following best describes 'inside advocacy' strategies?