Author: Lauren Crawford Shaver

  • What Matters Back Home

    What Matters Back Home

    Hire is First Addition to Firm’s Executive Leadership Team Since 2016

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  • Grassroots Campaigning and Voter Turnout: Georgia By The Numbers

    Grassroots Campaigning and Voter Turnout: Georgia By The Numbers

    In the January federal runoff election in Georgia, voter turnout skyrocketed. While 57 percent of Georgia’s 2008 general election voters turned out for that year’s election runoffs, 91 percent of Georgia’s 2020 general election voters turned out for the most recent runoffs. This begs the question: what mobilized so many more individuals to vote this…

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  • Government in 2021: Local Still Matters

    Government in 2021: Local Still Matters

    Looking back, we know bipartisan support has been required for advocacy campaigns to succeed in divided government. That is also true amidst slim party majorities, which will characterize the 117th Congress. While Democrats may now control both chambers, the margins are small, and it will be imperative to rally a critical mass of voting members…

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  • How Grassroots Has Evolved in COVID-19

    How Grassroots Has Evolved in COVID-19

    During COVID-19, Americans have changed their news habits and members of Congress and other elected officials have changed how they communicate with constituents. As a result, the execution of grassroots and advocacy efforts has also shifted. The public and policymakers are as engaged as ever in problem-solving, so it is no surprise that the most effective way to advance a policy objective revolves around local news, digital momentum, and constituent correspondence.   The Shift Towards Local News  Since the public health crisis began, Americans are increasingly…

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  • Congress is Listening to Those Breaking Through

    Congress is Listening to Those Breaking Through

    In-person meetings on Capitol Hill used to be the norm. Members of Congress and their staff would spend much of their days meeting with constituents, lobbyists, and other concerned citizens. When back in their districts, members would regularly host in-person townhalls, site visits, coffee hours, and other similar events to hear from their constituents. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, members of Congress…

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  • Drive Time to Screen Time: COVID-19’s Effect on Americans’ Media Consumption

    Drive Time to Screen Time: COVID-19’s Effect on Americans’ Media Consumption

    American habits and values have shifted greatly since stay-at-home and shutdown orders began in March, with major implications for organizations trying to raise awareness and drive public conversation about their issues. While it’s clear the novel coronavirus has changed Americans’ habits and increased virtual connectivity in new ways, it has also altered how we consume…

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  • How States are Currently Responding to COVID-19

    How States are Currently Responding to COVID-19

    With COVID-19 cases in every state, the severity of its impact and responses by the states vary. Putting politics aside, let’s take a look at what actions have been taken, why, and what may be working for other states to follow. We have broken down state actions into three buckets: Access to Health Care Coverage…

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  • Free Trade Isn’t Free

    Free Trade Isn’t Free

    With so much happening in the 140-character, 24-hour news cycle these days, it can be easy for the general public and reporters to lose sight of the legislative and regulatory goings-on in Washington. Remember when the Trump Administration posted a notice to the Federal Register that the United States intends to “modernize” the North American…

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  • Washington desperately needs a win: How about paid family leave?

    Washington desperately needs a win: How about paid family leave?

    We have had Governors, business leaders, Members of Congress, Presidential candidates and Administrations from both parties call for paid family leave but it still can not break through in Washington. Just this past month, in true bipartisan fashion, AEI and Brookings released a report on how a national paid family leave policy is needed in the United…

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