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Issue advocacy

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See also:Express advocacy

Issue advocacy refers to political advertising focused on "broad political issues rather than specific candidates." It does not attempt to persuade the public of particular electoral outcomes, but rather seeks to highlight broader political or social issues. Issue advocacy is distinguished fromexpress advocacy, which, as the term suggests, expressly and clearly supports or opposes a particular electoral outcome. Express advocacy advertisements include "for" or "against" statements. Candidate-supported advertisements, for instance, which expressly state whether to vote for or against a candidate, are by definition express advocacy. Advertisements focused on broader issues, which do not use express statements of support or opposition, are by definitionissue advocacy.^[1]^[2]

Background

Seal of the United States Supreme Court

The 1976Buckley v. ValeoU.S. Supreme Court decision established two types of political advertising: express advocacy andissue advocacy.Express advocacy advertisements explicitly recommendelection or defeat of a candidate. They are also subject to federal campaign regulations.Issue advocacy advertisements, on the other hand,educate voters on broader issues; they are not campaign-oriented.^[1]

TheBuckley decision and subsequent lower court rulings citing it established a test by which to judge whether political advertisements were express advocacy orissue advocacy.Buckley had a footnote with specific phrases deemed to be clear statements of support or opposition, including terms like “vote for,” “election,” "support,” "vote against,” “defeat” and "reject.”^[1] These phrases were referred to in academic articles, advocacy articles, and court cases asmagic words, and many lower-court rulings did not consider advertisements without those magic words as express advocacy; rather, they were consideredissue advocacy.^[1]^[2]