Advocacy research and social policy

Homelessness: Advocacy and Social Policy

Advocacy and Competition Policy

Science, scientists, and policy advocacy.

I am concerned that we scientists in conservation biology, ecology, natural resources, environmental science, and similar disciplines are collectively slipping into a morass that risks marginalizing the contribution of science to public policy. Advocating personal positions on ecological policy issues has become widely tolerated as acceptable professional behavior and is even encouraged by a su...

Patient Advocacy in Research

In 20 years of breast cancer advocacy, I’ve witnessed major changes in attitude toward advocates on the part of basic researchers, clinical investigators, and others involved with the science of the disease. Not so long ago, even a seat at the table – much less a vote –was hard to come by. Advocate presence was met with puzzlement, if not outright resistance. How could we possibly understand th...

Kahn Best Policy Disease Politics and Medical Research Funding : Three Ways Advocacy Shapes

In the 1980s and 1990s, single-disease interest groups emerged as an influential force in U.S. politics. This article explores their effects on federal medical research priority-setting. Previous studies of advocacy organizations’ political effects focused narrowly on direct benefits for constituents. Using data on 53 diseases over 19 years, I find that in addition to securing direct benefits, ...