Advocacy strategies of industry and environmental interest groups in oil and gas policy debates

Abstract

This article analyses the preferred advocacy strategies of industry representatives and environmentalists in the conflict over oil and gas drilling in the state of Colorado. Environmental policy, social movement and nonprofit literatures describe the advocacy strategies of those seeking to influence policy. While early work assumed that actors with greater resources rely on inside tactics and those with fewer resources rely on outside tactics, more recent studies suggest that policy actors use an array of tactics. To build on recent research and improve our understanding of strategic decisions, this study examines the role that venues play in policy actors’ perceptions of the effectiveness of their advocacy tactics. Specifically, this research compares self-reported strategy effectiveness among members of the oil and gas industry with representatives of environmental groups, and asks whether effectiveness is moderated by perceptions of venue viability. Data derive from two waves of surveys of oil and gas policy actors in Colorado. Results hold implications for stakeholder engagement and suggest that venue perception is relevant to strategy effectiveness, but only within regulatory venues. In this way, the article makes a clear contribution to the interest group literature as well as the environmental policy subsystem literature.