Lily Bourgeois
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Devin Judge-Lord
Research Mentor School/College/Department: / Public Policy
Program:
Authors: Lily Bourgeois, Devin Judge-Lord
Session: Session 5: 2:40 pm – 3:30 pm
Poster: 17
Abstract
Our research seeks to explore how advocacy groups and campaigns affect the drafting of public policy. By analyzing policies from their proposed to final rulings, we can discover what features of a political group influence agencies to be more or less likely to adopt their proposed changes into the final ruling. So far our research has already determined several key features of a successful political organization. For example, organizations that use legal jargon, thus revealing a baseline legal knowledge, are more successful than organizations that do not seem to have legal guidance. The findings of this research could be extremely useful for political organizations seeking to make real changes in policy through their public comments, particularly the groups currently lacking name or monetary power. Our data also provides a better understanding of the political landscape, including the most influential organizations and coalitions. The bulk of this research consists in analyzing the public comments made by organizations on proposed rulings. Qualitative data analysis skills are used in assigning values to – or “coding” – the type of organization, what they are asking for, what degree of success their proposed changes saw, etc. Further data analysis can be used to determine who the coalition leaders are and which organizations proved to be the most influential. This research could be a valuable tool in determining what political groups and coalitions wield the most power in public policy, and how organizations can leverage this knowledge to create the change they want to see in policy.
