Confronting power : the practice of policy advocacy /

At the outset Unsicker (School for International Training Graduate Institute) informs readers that Confronting Power is neither a "how-to" book, despite the last "how-to" chapter, nor an academic work although the first chapter, distinguishing advocacy from lobbying, and the second chapter, providing a conceptual map, appear to be so. Advocacy, as distinct from lobbying, seems to be defined only by source (e.g., NGOs and coalitions, etc.) and by the usual issues (e.g., political, economic, and environmental, etc.). Thus, advocacy appears to be embedded in its source or in the eye of its advocate. At any rate, a rich and engaging series of chapters on diverse advocacy case studies, in Bangladesh, Ghana, and even Vermont, are described but not specifically in relation to the conceptual map initially presented. Instead, case studies are followed by a series of questions, or "learning exercises," that seem related to the conceptual map and presumably are designed to simulate advocacy situations and stimulate relevant discussion in a classroom setting. Thus, the book seems most valuable as a classroom text and as a positive contribution to understanding the little understood practice of advocacy. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, research, and professional collections. A. F. Johnson emeritus, Bishop's University