Express Advocacy
The term express advocacy is largely used in connection with a debate in the United States regarding when does issue advocacy turn into campaigning.
Many groups that made, what appeared to most to be campaign advertisements, claimed that their communications to voters were really issue advocacy and not express advocacy. To help understand the difference, examine these two communications to voters:
- Select John Smith.
- Vote NO! to Proposition 99.
In both examples the message's intention is clear. Using a standard that looks for specific words or phrases in a communication is called conducting a bright-line test. Bright-line is a standard where there is no mistake. One or more of the "Eight Magic Words", or their equivalents, is present or not present.
Express advocacy is associated with independent expenditures.
Read more about this topic: Issue Advocacy Ads
Famous quotes containing the word express:
“I ... have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is. I only know that people call me a feminist when I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat, or a prostitute.”
—Rebecca West (1892–1983)