| Summary: | Advocacy has been seen as part of professional practice since the early days of social work (Specht & Courtney, 1994; Trattner, 1994). Throughout the profession's history, social workers have fought for the rights of groups that could not advocate for themselves. This is a rare characteristic for any profession, which almost by definition means an occupation tied to the preservation of the existing social order. For social work to continue this practice, the profession has developed a large number of intervention techniques under the rubric of social policy practice (Jansson, 1999).
Electronic techniques, particularly those that utilize Internet based technologies, are changing the way that advocacy is practiced (Fitzgerald & McNutt, 1997, March; McNutt & Boland, 1998; 1999; Turner, 1998; Grobman & Grant, 1998; Schwartz, 1996; Bowen, 1996). New techniques provide a means to make lobbying, campaigning and organizing more effective. They also allow small organizations, under certain situations, to compete with large, well-funded opponents (McNutt & Boland, 1999; Turner 1998). While the use of these techniques is now an established form of practice, electronic advocacy is very much a practice in the developmental stages. The next few years will define the field and determine how practice will evolve and what types of interventions are developed. In addition, changes in advocacy methods, as well as modifications in the political landscape, provide an opportunity to move beyond the profession's traditional stance into a transformed reality.
This paper will explore several forces that are shaping the future of electronic advocacy and identify trends and research needs in this new vein of policy practice interventions. The paper is divided into three parts. The first section provides an overview of electronic advocacy. This will be followed by a discussion of the forces that are facing this type of practice. Finally, implications will be draw and research needs identified.
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