Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Public Advocacy - President Obama
When someone speaks out in public either in support of or against an idea, this is public advocacy. President Obama recently spoke out in support of a policy change in the Middle East. He stresses how the changes will be gradual and will not happen overnight. Obama also asks Americans to be patient and understanding of his thoughts on Middle Eastern policies. I think that this is a good example of public advocacy because he clearly addresses an important problem and then proposes a solution for it. President Obama's purpose in this speech is to inform the audience of the problem and to persuade them to go along with his policy change. Watch an excerpt from his speech in the link above thanks to YouTube.
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This example raises some good questions about how we define public advocacy and civic engagement, and the role of advocates/those engaged with the concerns of "the public." Elected officials are "public servants" whose job it is (technically!) to serve their constituents. Are politicians advocates, then, or are they just doing their jobs? Whether they are one, the other, or both, how well do they fulfill the expectations set in our definitions for public advocacy and/or civic engagement?
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