High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Advocacy

Project Participants

Marginalized individuals are less likely to participate or have their interests represented in political processes than historically privileged individuals. Interest groups are considered the best means to address this gap, but there is little research on the role of interest groups in mobilizing people to directly participate in political processes, particularly in marginalized communities. This project tests hypotheses about organizational strategies used to mobilize individuals for political participation, based on a survey of interest groups that have promoted participation around unconventional oil and gas policies in California and Colorado. The results show that interest groups working in vulnerable communities do more direct advocacy (i.e., connecting residents to representatives) and use more personal communication methods (i.e., door-to-door canvassing) than interest groups working in historically privileged communities. However, organizational strategies in general are not well predicted by the target community’s composition, suggesting that decisions around mobilization strategies are driven by other factors.

Research Topics

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