Issue 5: Policymakers and policy do-ers
There's nothing new under the sun, except for how to get things done
WELCOME
Recently, I read two articles (Sam Freedman, “The Policy Paradox” and Francis Fukuyama, “We Need Policy Implementers, Not Policy Makers”) that made explicit a problem that’s been nagging at me and, likely, many of you: Why does it feel like we know all the solutions but either the process or the politics - or, more often than not, both - hold us back?
There has been content featured in Policycraft on both the origin and spread of policy ideas but, as Fukuyama and Freedman argue, more ideas may not be what’s necessary today. Instead, we need to study the barriers to existing (good) ideas and focus action on removing those so ideas can actually be implemented.
This line of thought brought me back to when I conducted a “lessons learned” exercise for the Government of Manitoba. The goal was to capture the best practices of their COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Task Force (VITF), and understand how it enabled that province to have the highest per capita vaccination rate in the country in the summer of 2021.
The character of the public servants who gave so much of themselves to vaccinate the province was both strategic and tactical; innovators and do-ers; adaptable, measured, and with good judgement. Listening to them, it was the opposite of the paradox Freedman outlines: we generally knew what we had to do (the policy solution) and we moved heaven and earth (politics and process) to implement it.
The VITF and related teams were public servants from a variety of competencies across diverse Ministries, and included people who have gone on to major leadership roles - too many, unfortunately, outside of government. I can only speculate on their frustration, knowing what the government was capable of achieving only to see a return to business as usual upon the VITF’s dissolution. (A experience, it should be noted, that was not unique to Manitoba).
I dare not ask where the report created from this lessons learned activity landed; if anything has become clear over the past few years, Canada-wide, it’s that the sacred knowledge of how to get shit done in the public sector is at risk of being lost.
This month, I invite the Policycraft community to reflect on this: how well does policy implementation fit into our profession? Are we actively teaching how to do it effectively and - perhaps most importantly - do we still know how?
Did this welcome note leave you thirsty for more Manitoba content? Policycraft recommends Universal Language, a film about Winnipeg set in an alternate universe Canada. There’s a scene set in a government office that is likely to resonate with more than a few subscribers.
THIS MONTH’S SYLLABUS
🗞️Three Principles for Running a White House Office, by Santi Ruiz, Statecraft
If we’re getting serious about getting things done, Tom Kalil’s whiteboard is a great source of tactical inspiration. In this edition of Statecraft, a newsletter that interviews US and UK public servants about how they achieved a specific policy goal, Ruiz goes deep on three mottos from a former White House staffer that helped his team turn policy ideas into policy action:
“People never follow up.”
“Talk to who owns the paper.”
“If you want people to do something, make it easy.”
Policycraft recommends subscribing to Statecraft, in part because they interviewed the guy at NORAD who tracks Santa.
🏛️OECD Recommendation on Public Policy Evaluation: Implementation Toolkit, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
In 2022, the OECD adopted a Recommendation on Public Policy Evaluation, aiming to set a first-of-its-kind international standard. This year, they followed up with a toolkit for implementation that details how to institutionalize policy evaluation, ensure its quality, and deliver impact. 🍁Canada mention: The toolkit cites the federal government’s Policy on Results as an example.
🎓Ideas as coalition magnets: coalition building, policy entrepreneurs, and power relations, Journal of European Public Policy 💰
Are you a policy entrepreneur who is trying to build a coalition behind one of your big ideas? Understanding how big tent groups coalesce behind policy ideas is a great place to start.
⚙️Open Governance Research Exchange, NYU Tandon School of Engineering
The OGRX is a digital library of case studies and research on how to solve public problems - and a handy tool for running your own j-scans and sourcing tested methods on data analysis, nudging, citizen engagement, and more.
🎓Innovating and changing the policy-cycle: Policy-makers be prepared!, Government Information Quarterly 💰
This article is a gem uncovered from the OGRX archive, which looks at how technology has placed new expectations on the role of policymaker - specifically, citizen engagement and use of data. The authors focus on how developed and developing countries can learn from each other how to manage this shift, but their insights are relevant domestically, too.
📣“The reason ‘policy’ is a discipline of sorts…” social media post by Brian F. Kelcey, Bluesky
A very short thread that puts forth a philosophy of policy as a discipline (a.k.a., policycraft): the connection of seemingly disparate things. Arguably true not just of trends and ‘factors’, but ideas and interpersonal relationships, too. Are you practicing the craft if you’re not making these connections and embedding them within your work?
📣“What’s the ‘anti-reading list’ in your field of expertise?”, social media post by Alec Stapp, Twitter/X
A fun question to pose at your next after-work drinks: are there foundational texts in policymaking or in your field of policy thinking that belong on an anti-reading list; as in, it’s important to understand why they shouldn’t be consulted, particularly by a non-expert audience?
