Updated May 15, 2012  

What Is Religious Advocacy?

Religious advocacy is broadly defined in this study to encompass a wide range of efforts to shape public policy on religion-related issues. It includes lobbying as strictly defined by the Internal Revenue Service – attempts to influence, or urge the public to influence, specific legislation, whether the legislation is before a legislative body, such as the U.S. Congress or any state legislature, or before the public as a referendum, ballot initiative, constitutional amendment or similar measure.^* But it also includes other efforts to affect public policy, such as activities aimed at the White House and federal agencies, litigation designed to advance policy goals, and education or mobilization of religious constituencies on particular issues. The issues may range from inherently religious matters (such as promotion of religious freedom and support for parochial schools) to social and political issues on which religious groups seek to promote their perspectives (such as abortion, same-sex marriage, hunger and HIV-AIDS).

The Organizations that engage in religious advocacy in Washington include many groups that come out of particular religious traditions, such as Catholic Charities USA, the American Jewish Committee and the Muslim American Society. They also include organizations that do not represent a particular faith but nonetheless have predominantly religious constituencies or advocate on public issues from a religious perspective, such as the National Right to Life Committee and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. In addition, they include groups that seek to influence public policy from a clearly articulated non-religious perspective (often in opposition to religious groups), such as the American Humanist Association and the Secular Coalition for America.

This study focuses on the efforts of national groups, meaning those that seek to influence policymaking at the federal level, though many of these groups also are active at the state or local level, and some are international in scope. To keep the focus on national advocacy, the study is limited to organizations that maintain a permanent advocacy office and at least one paid employee in the greater Washington, D.C., area. (See Methodology for more details.)

Footnotes: 

* For more information, see Internal Revenue Service, Lobbying, http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=163392,00.html. (return to text)