According to one source, "E-Advocacy" is "Using the Internet for
Lobbying and Other Political Activities".  However, I need a
definition that is further refined to include more concrete
references.  For example, MoveOn.org has recently used "e-advocacy" to
have their members contact television networks, so clearly the concept
goes beyond just legislative issues.

To refine what constitutes "e-advocacy", I'd like to obtain an
itemized feature-set of the tools used in e-advocacy, at least in
today's Internet.  To obtain an expansive feature-set, one might visit
these e-advocacy services' sites:

	- CapitolAdvantage.com
	- Carol-Trevelyan Strategy Group (CTSG.com)
	- CitizenSpeak.org
	- Convio.com
	- DigiCamp.com (Digital Campaigns)
	- eConstituent.com / VoteNet.com
	- GetActive.com
	- Grassroots.com  (Grassroots Multiplier)
	- Groundspring.org  (AdvocacyNow)
	- OpenConcept.ca
	- PoliticalOutreach.com
	- TheSoftEdge.com (CongressWeb)

In summary, this answer mandates 2 aspects:

 (1) A concrete definition of "e-advocacy",
 (2) an expansive itemization of the "e-advocacy" toolset.

Don't hesitate to ask for clarification ... Thanks very much!

P.S. As a bonus, if you know of any other e-advocacy services I left
of the list, please let me know.

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Request for Question Clarification by techtor-ga on 08 Mar 2004 08:00 PST

I've found some sites explaining what advocacy is, though an
explanation specifically about its application in the Internet seems
difficult to find. So just an explanation of advocacy with my own
inferences on how it is used in the Internet could be done. Sites with
resources and tools though might be plenty. How expansive though do
you want the feature-set listing to be, should it be down to the most
detailed explanation of how a feature works?

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Clarification of Question by jlb0001-ga on 08 Mar 2004 12:32 PST

RE: "How expansive though do you want the feature-set listing to be...?"

I mean "expansive" in the sense of not leaving off a particular
feature (such as web form to fax).  Explaining what "web form to fax"
means should not be necessary, but including such a feature in the
e-advocacy toolkit would be necessary.

Regarding how e-advocacy could be defined, one might iterate the
associated synonyms commonly found on the websites mentioned and try
to amalgamize a common definition from their marketing material along
with your own inferences.  Going too far would be better than being
too brief.  Determining how advocacy is applied on the Internet is
likely something that could only be extracted from the websites that
market e-advocacy services (or from observations of advocacy groups
usage of the Internet).  Again, the list of websites included is
probably a good source.

Another source might be to email any specific questions to those
companies listed.  If such a task is not appropriate for this forum,
please include any of your suggested questions and I can do that
myself.  (This is not a requirment, just an option to consider.)