Final answer:
Advocacy is the act of supporting or seeking a specific course of action to benefit a person, group, or community. It is carried out through various strategies by interest groups, including direct and indirect lobbying, electioneering, litigation, and media influence.
Step-by-step explanation:
The definition of supporting or seeking a specific course of action for the benefit and on behalf of a person, group, or community is advocacy. Advocacy involves holding a normative position on an issue, with a conviction about what should or ought to be done to achieve a specific goal or outcome. Advocates employ facts, evidence, and analysis to persuade policymakers or the public of the benefits of their proposals. Interest groups, often synonymous with advocacy groups or lobbying groups, engage in such activities to encourage or prevent changes in public policy.
Interest groups influence public policy through various strategies, such as direct and indirect lobbying, electioneering, litigation, and shaping public opinion through the media. In the context of the judicial system, interest groups can lobby the judiciary by filing amicus curiae briefs to present legal arguments on specific cases, as seen in landmark decisions like Obergefell v. Hodges.