Understanding and Influencing Public Opinion
Promoting Human Rights at Home

Opportunity requires a national commitment to protecting and promoting human rights. These rights are the guarantee of dignity and fairness we all deserve by virtue of our humanity, and which the world’s governments have recognized as universally essential. Because the human rights of many Americans continue to be denied, it is essential that we work to build understanding and support for those rights here at home.

The Challenge
Attempts to promote and protect human rights in the United States have suffered from the absence of a “human rights culture” in our public discourse and policymaking. Though most Americans believe in the concept of human rights, few are familiar with international principles or their implications for domestic social problems. Lawmakers lack knowledge about human rights and feel little public pressure to fulfill our country’s obligations. A small, but growing, U.S. human rights movement has begun to put these issues on the map, but has had little information on public attitudes or how to influence them.

The Opportunity Agenda's Approach
The Opportunity Agenda believes that communications strategies must be inspired by values, while grounded in research. To guide our message development, we scan existing opinion research to identify opportunities for moving public opinion. When adequate information isn’t available, we conduct original research with key audiences, and build on this knowledge to craft and test messages, train advocates, and inform communications campaigns.

Our Activities
To support the expansion of a domestic human rights movement, we worked with leaders and advocates to design and implement communications strategies that examine and expand public understanding of and support for human rights in the U.S.

To do this, we first surveyed human rights leaders about communications and messaging on domestic social issues. Based on their feedback and scans of opinion research and media, we undertook a multi-year research project to examine the views of key audiences. Using focus groups, surveys, a national poll, and message testing, we were able to provide the field with a better understanding of these audiences’ views, interests, and concerns.

We then worked with field leaders to develop a hands-on communications toolkit and trainings, and finally to take our shared message “live” in campaigns on specific human rights issues around the nation.

 

Advocates are using our research and advice to press for human rights protections. We believe this approach of combining research, testing, training, and outreach can be applied to other social justice topics to expand opportunity across issues.