political engagement glossary

• political campaign — as used in the U.S., it's synonymous with electoral campaign (the competitive efforts by candidates and political parties to win voter support in the period preceding an election), but can also be used to talk about a larger effort put together by an issue advocacy group
• advocacy group
  • corporate-funded lobbying, versus government-agency-funded lobbying, versus non-profit lobbying, and even individual lobbyists
    • In the US, IRS rules have inserted a sharp distinction between the terms lobbying and advocacy, where otherwise none might exist. In reality it's probably more of a spectrum, and the definitions are messy and varied.
  • inside versus outside lobbying, AKA direct lobbying versus indirect lobbying (AKA grassroots lobbying) — directly contacting legislators, versus attempts to mobilize citizens outside the policy-making community
  • single-issue versus multiple-issue lobbying
• political communication — a field concerned with how information spreads and influences politics, policy makers, the news media, and citizens
• political strategist [1] — (see strategy vs tactics) — Usually refers to people who make the higher-level longer-term decisions in a campaign.

TODO -- terms to add:

• non-governmental organization