K Street Cafe

By Anne D. Darconte

For over a year now, grassroots practitioners in Washington, DC have been discussing the pros and cons of adopting an ethics code for conducting grassroots advocacy campaigns. While this is not a new issue by any means, it gained renewed attention after the infamous Abramoff lobbying scandal and the presidential election of Barack Obama who promised greater transparency in government. Last summer, more fuel was added to the fire when angry citizens voiced their displeasure at congressional town hall meetings with the health care reform debate. Then the disclosure that bogus letters had been sent to several members of Congress by an employee of a grassroots advocacy firm on behalf of its client resulted in a congressional hearing.

The latest panel to address this issue convened on this week at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. About 75 people turned out to hear the panel participants discuss the pros and cons of a grassroots code of ethics. While most agreed that adopting such a code would be worthwhile, the devil continues to be in the detail.

A draft code was disseminated and discussed, proposing the principles of legitimacy, authenticity, relevance, transparency, civility and honesty. Arguing against any of these concepts is like arguing against hot dogs and apple pie in America. Yet, as we heard on Wednesday, just as some people like their apple pie warm and others like it a la mode, not all people agree on how to define these terms. But drafting a code is not an impossible task.

Related advocacy and communications organizations have already gone down this path, and some require their members to abide by it as a condition of membership. The American League of Lobbyists, American Association of Political Consultants, Public Relations Society of America and Word of Mouth Marketing Association have adopted codes of conduct. Various others like doctors, nurses, lawyers and paralegals have taken this step. So have such varied professions as engineers, architects, social workers, realtors, anthropologists, journalists and home inspectors. Grassroots advocacy practitioners may be next.

If our time has come, then how do we get there? As suggested at this week’s forum, let’s start by looking at the models that have worked for other groups.  And let’s engage all those impacted for input. Can we count on you to participate?