Business leaders who are new to government often fail to distinguish between "politics" and "policy". Understanding the difference is critical to forming an effective networking and advocacy strategy that favors your business interest.

"Politics" is about candidates seeking votes to achieve government office. Candidates usually affiliate with a political party and advocate policies with the strongest voter appeal. The predominant goal is to get elected rather than to implement any particular policy (except maybe the one that motivated people to vote in favor of the candidate in the first place).

"Policy" is about government action. Examples include tax rates, deployment of military forces and regulation of the internet. Policy questions are often intensely debated by policy experts, as well as groups, individuals and institutions affected by the government action.

Candidates seeking public office often advocate positions on policy, but are seldom part of the intellectual debate. Their positions are motivated by election goals, rather than substance.

Supporting candidates in campaigns for public office may be fun and socially rewarding, but the risks to your business can be substantial. Your customers may not share your views and, in fact, may be supporting opposing candidates. Further, while your affiliation with a winning candidate may give you some perceived influence, a loss could alienate you substantially. Finally, even victories will be short lived as your fortunes rise and fall with the candidate.

If your goal is to improve long-term government decision making on issues involving your industry, the better approach may be to emphasize policy over politics. Policy advocacy emphasizes substance over elections and, in fact, is politically neutral. Such advocacy argues the substantive consequences of a government action or proposal without favoring political parties or candidates. For example, a letter to your congressman arguing against "net neutrality" is likely to be more persuasive in changing FCC regulations than a campaign contribution in the next congressional election to the candidate promising to curtail FCC overreach.

Policy activism can be particularly effective when your efforts are orchestrated as part of a policy group supporting your industry. Examples include the Technology Policy Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute. These and other similar groups have the resources and policy experts that can effectively debate government action and proposals in real economic terms. By affiliating with such groups you will become smarter on the issues, meet like-minded business people and magnify your voice in favor of policies affecting you and your business at costs well within the budget of even small businesses. Note also that the tax exempt status of these groups imposes political neutrality as a matter of law, and prohibits supporting candidates or influencing legislation in partisan politics.


Effective networking and business promotion usually means finding long-term partners and customers that you can count on. Effective policy participation can help you source these relationships, and improve your advocacy in favor of government action that promotes your business.