The inherently political nature of community psychology makes it critical for the community psychologist to be able to understand and sometimes influence the political process. With this goal comes the responsibifity of carefully considering the limits of our scientific knowledge base. This paper considers those limits, reviews the literature on strategies for influencing legislative decision making, and addresses the implications of those #mits for ongoing involvement in policy influence.Community psychology is inherently political. Its values reflect the right of individuals and groups to be different and assert that all people are worthwhile and deserve equal access to material and psychological resources (Rappaport, 1977). Consistent with these values, George Miller (1969) stated, "Nothing would be more relevant to human welfare.., than to discover how best to give psychology away." Miller contended that there is a body of knowledge about human behavior which could potentially contribute to human welfare and that the task of the psychologist is to make that knowledge generally available. The community psychologist frequently takes his or her activities a step farther, not only by sharing information but also by attempting to provide services to underprivileged groups, by designing and implementing new programs, or by evaluating and revising existing ones. Developing programs to serve the homeless, supporting the right of mentally ill individuals to be maintained in the community and facilitating their access to treatment, medication, housing, and a safe environment, or, for those who are con-IAI1 correspondence should be sent to April Wursten,