How to plan and carry out an advocacy campaign or citizenship action, including setting aims, researching the issue, choosing methods, and working with others.

What this dot point is asking

AQA wants you to know how to plan and run a citizenship action or advocacy campaign from start to finish. You should be able to describe the steps, from choosing an issue and setting aims to deciding methods and working with others. In Paper 1 Section A the active citizenship questions ask you to draw on a real action you investigated and took, so you should be able to explain each planning decision and justify why you made it. Examiners reward candidates who show a clear, logical process and who can say not just what they did but why it was the right way to plan.

Choose and research the issue

You should use reliable sources and, where possible, gather your own primary evidence, such as a survey of opinion or interviews with people affected. Research has two jobs. First, it tells you whether the problem is real and how big it is, which stops you wasting effort on a non-issue. Second, it gives you evidence to persuade decision-makers, who are far more likely to act on numbers and testimony than on assertion. A campaign for a safer crossing is stronger if it can cite traffic counts, near-miss reports and a survey of parents than if it relies on a general feeling that the road is dangerous. Researching different points of view also helps you anticipate objections, for example the cost to the council, so you can answer them.

Set clear aims

For example, an aim might be to persuade the council to provide a safe crossing near a school, rather than the vague "make the area safer". Specific aims do two things: they direct your choice of methods and decision-maker, and they make the campaign possible to evaluate afterwards. A useful test is whether you could tell, at the end, whether the aim was met fully, partly or not at all. Aims should also be realistic for the time and resources of a school group: "persuade the council to review the crossing" is achievable, while "rebuild the road" is not. Setting a measurable target, such as a number of signatures, links the plan directly to the later evaluation stage.

Identify who can make the change

Work out who has the power to grant what you want, such as a local council, an MP, a head teacher or a business. Directing your action at the right decision-maker makes it far more likely to succeed. This is one of the most common things candidates get wrong: a petition handed to the general public cannot build a crossing, but one presented to the council, which controls local roads, can. Mapping the issue to the level of government or organisation that has authority over it (local council for local roads and refuse, Parliament for national law, a school's governors for school policy) is a key planning skill. You may also identify allies, such as other community groups or sympathetic local media, who can amplify the campaign.

Choose methods and plan the action

Choose methods that suit your aim and audience, such as a petition, a letter or email, a meeting with a decision-maker, a survey, a leaflet or a social media campaign. Then plan the practical details:

• A timeline with deadlines, working back from any decision date.
• Tasks and roles shared among the team so everyone knows what they are doing.
• The resources you need, such as printing, a venue or online tools.

Working as a team and communicating clearly keeps the campaign on track. Methods should be matched to the decision-maker: a formal letter and a requested meeting suit a councillor, while social media and a petition build the public pressure that makes a decision-maker take notice. Combining methods (advocacy aimed at the decision-maker plus direct action that shows public support) is usually more effective than relying on one.