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Issue advocacy
| Civil Liberties Policy |
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| Nonprofit regulation |
| This page is part of the Privacy Policy Project |
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- See also: Express advocacy
Issue advocacy refers to political advertising focused on "broad political issues rather than specific candidates." It does not attempt to persuade the public of particular electoral outcomes, but rather seeks to highlight broader political or social issues. Issue advocacy is distinguished from express advocacy, which, as the term suggests, expressly and clearly supports or opposes a particular electoral outcome. Express advocacy advertisements include "for" or "against" statements. Candidate-supported advertisements, for instance, which expressly state whether to vote for or against a candidate, are by definition express advocacy. Advertisements focused on broader issues, which do not use express statements of support or opposition, are by definition issue advocacy.[1][2]
Background
The 1976 Buckley v. Valeo U.S. Supreme Court decision established two types of political advertising: express advocacy and issue advocacy. Express advocacy advertisements explicitly recommend election or defeat of a candidate. They are also subject to federal campaign regulations. Issue advocacy advertisements, on the other hand, educate voters on broader issues; they are not campaign-oriented.[1]
The Buckley decision and subsequent lower court rulings citing it established a test by which to judge whether political advertisements were express advocacy or issue advocacy. Buckley had a footnote with specific phrases deemed to be clear statements of support or opposition, including terms like “vote for,” “election,” "support,” "vote against,” “defeat” and "reject.”[1] These phrases were referred to in academic articles, advocacy articles, and court cases as magic words, and many lower-court rulings did not consider advertisements without those magic words as express advocacy; rather, they were considered issue advocacy.[1][2]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Issue + advocacy"
See also
- Federal Election Commission
- Political action committee
- PACs and Super PACs
- Super PAC
- Buckley v. Valeo
- Express advocacy
External links
Footnotes
