Can you be involved in political advocacy and stay sane?

Doing the work of bringing about lasting change in the world by tackling unjust systems and structures must be up there in the charts of the most purposeful and important work a person can do.

It can be immensely satisfying when you know that you helped to bring about a change that will affect people’s lives in a really positive way.

But on a day to day basis it can sometimes feel more daunting and frustrating, than rewarding and exciting.

You can feel at the mercy of political events and other people’s agendas and wonder what’s the point – and are you making any difference at all.

There are several reasons for this frustration:

1.      The power to make decisions is in someone else’s hands

At the heart of it is the obvious reality that your role is to influence and not to actually make the decisions.

You know what needs to change and you can lead the horse to water, but ultimately you are not the decision-maker and can’t force them to drink.

Having no control over the final outcome of your work is an inherently frustrating place to be.

It can make your work feel futile if your proposals never quite seem to make it over the line.

What makes it even more frustrating is when the person who is the decision-maker seems to know very little about the subject area. They may only have been shuffled into position a few weeks earlier, with no relevant experience.

You have to start all over again to explain the basics of your position while you wonder why this person is now in charge – and whether they’re going to listen to you.

2.      It feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders

You’re pushing for policy change because you know what it will mean to the people affected by it. You’re speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves. You desperately want to see lives transformed.

It can feel like it’s all down to you, and that’s a great weight to carry.

When no one seems to be listening or caring about what you’re saying, frustration can turn into outright anger or turn inwards and drain your energy levels. The work can carry with it a high emotional toll.

That’s especially true when the announcements and decisions that are made seem frivolous in comparison to the life-changing policies you’re pushing for.

3.      The political system is awkward to navigate

Finding the right people to present your policy proposals to can be a nightmare.

You can waste hours chasing down officials or having meetings with politicians who do not actually have any power to help you.

It’s not clear from outside the system what steps and processes need to happen before any decision is made – so you don’t know where or when to focus your efforts.

You think you’re making headway, and then you find out the official you’ve always communicated with has moved on without a replacement and you’re left wondering what to do next.

4.      You’re fobbed off by politicians or officials

Often when you meet policy-makers you’ll present your case with great passion and knowledge but you’ll be met with an unsatisfactory response.

You’re told they’re already addressing the problem in some (wholly inadequate) ways or your ideas may be pushed into the long grass.

You’re told something will happen ‘when parliamentary time allows’ or ‘in the fullness of time’ and the pace of change can be painfully slow.

Even if great progress is going on behind the scenes and change is coming sooner than you think, they probably won’t tell you that.

So you’re left feeling frustrated for many reasons and wondering what’s the point of bothering with advocacy at all.

But that’s when you need to remember that you’re in the long game. Change can and does happen, and it takes strategy and patience.  

I’ve seen organisations make an incredible difference to people’s lives through their advocacy work.

To be effective - and make the whole process a lot less frustrating - you can:

Own your power

You may not have the ultimate decision-making power, but you still have power. Recognise it and step into it.

You have the power to support, endorse, criticise and sway public opinion.

You have the power to develop effective solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges and communicate them.

You have the power to test and pilot policy proposals and produce the evidence that policy-makers need to make sweeping changes.

Owning your power is the start to defusing frustration – harness it to influence in the most productive way.

Pick your battles

Trying to solve all the world’s problems at once will get you nowhere, but picking your battles will mean you have enough energy to keep moving.

You will make a bigger difference by having clear priorities in your advocacy work and developing effective strategies around those priorities.

When you only bite off what you can chew, you’ll feel energised and motivated by what you’re doing and less likely to become dragged down by the emotional strain of the work.

Learn how the system works

You can save yourself a lot of time and energy if you don’t waste time speaking to the wrong people or institutions.

It also helps to understand how political processes work and their timelines so you can interject at the relevant stage.

The more you understand the system, the more you will be able to put yourself in the shoes of the decision-makers inside the system – which is fundamental to being effective at influencing.

Have a plan

Finally, have a plan or strategy for bringing about the change you want to see.

Through this process you’ll consider the range of possible scenarios so when you face setbacks or are fobbed off you’ll know what to do.  

Every time you have an interaction with a policy-maker, even if it’s not what you want to hear, you’ll be gaining new insight that enables you to plan more strategically going forward.

There are plenty of things in the messy world of politics that will trigger you to feel frustrated and maybe even start to tip you over the edge. But taking these actions will maximise your effectiveness and help give you the energy, purpose and enthusiasm you need to stay in the game.

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