Week 5- Writing Policy Flashcards
How is effective policy advocacy used as dialogue?
- Effective policy advocacy can be simply understand as process of engaging dialogue towards ownership and influence
- Policy advocacy is the process of negotiating and mediating a dialogue through which influential networks, opinion leaders and decision makers take ownership of your ideas, evidence and proposals and subsequently act upon them
- Practically, this means designing and putting together a set of activities and communication tools for various target audiences, and hopefully allowing them to understand your ideas, be convinced by them and make their own and act on these ideas
Outline the target audience and realistic aim for a policy brief
- Main audience is informed non specialists
- People who work regularly on the issue addressed in a brief but will mostly not conduct policy research themselves or read expert texts
- Aims to interest audiences, prompting them to want to find out more about the analysis and proposals
Define policy brief
Policy document produced to engage and persuade informed, non specialist audiences
Give examples of target audiences of a policy brief
- Decision makers
- Politicians
- NGO advocates
- Journalists
What is the practical use of a policy brief?
Important but not sufficient in convincing your target audience
Outline the (5) most common ways a policy brief is used
- Posted online on the campaign or organisational website as a PDF
- Sent as a PDF to a partner/stakeholder email list
- Some even still post in paper format to a partner/stakeholder mailing list
- Used as a supporting document for meetings/lobbying, presentations and press conferences
- Shared on social media feeds of all kinds
Outline (9) attributes a policy brief should be
- Engaging- lead with striking facts
- Policy relevant and focused- link to the audience discussion can often be challenging when you come from a researcher/expert circle
- Professional, not academic- focus on the practical. Audience uninterested in research, but interested in writer’s insights on problem and solutions
- Succinct- short and easy to read. 6-8 pages, no more than 4
- Limited- focus is particular aspects of broader problem based on what you think is important or striking
- Understandable- simple explanation instead of jargon. Easy to follow, targeting broad but knowledgeable audience
- Branded and promotional- make it your own. Build recognition and reputation
- Practical and feasible- tackle the real issues. Action oriented tool, therefore must provide arguments based on what is actually happening in practice and propose realistic recommendations
Outline differences between a policy study and brief
Audience:
* Study- targets policy specialists or experts
* Targets informed, non specialists
Focus:
* Study- (issue driven) in depth analysis of policy issues and options available based on research
* Brief- (audience driven) specific policy message designed to engage and convince key stakeholders
Context of use:
* Study- focused on influencing current expert thinking on the policy challenge (and informs the brief)
* Brief- used as a tool to support advocacy activities to start a conversation/get the interest of non specialist audiences (links to study)
Methodology:
* Study- usually includes a lot of evidence based on primary research
* Brief- only includes the key findings from the primary research
Ideas/language used:
* Study- can be quite discipline specific/technical
* Brief- must be very clear and simple
Length:
* Study- 35-60 pages
* Brief- 4-8 pages
A study targets the expert discussion and a brief targets the professional/practitioner one
Outline what a hybrid paper entails
- About 20 pages long, often looks more promotional and polished (like a brief)
- Used when clients/partners ask for analysis of an ongoing issue in a short turn around time with a small budget
- No time or resources to conduct a large scale research, but evidence is still required. Accessible to broader audiences
- Difficult space to inhabit from a communications perspective, as it is all things to all audiences
Outline the following element of a policy brief: title
- Make it sticky
- An important opening element in grabbing the attention of the reader and may also be used to start communicating the essence of your message
Outline the following element of a policy brief: executive summary
- One or maximum two paragraph summary, aiming to clearly state the core findings and recommendations in the paper and further grab the reader’s attention
- Includes clear statements on the following:
-The specific issue or problem addressed in the brief
-The most striking policy failures or insights identified
-The shape or main focus of your recommendations - May be the only thing some readers read, so make it memorable
Outline the following element of a policy brief: rationale for action on the problem
- Key question- why do something different?
- Focused on the problem. Aims to present the most striking facts or elements of your analysis to convince your audiences that they may need to rethink the issue and change the current policy approach
- Includes sections which:
-Frame the paper, by derailing the policy problem in the local context
-Develop the core issues or striking facts that have lead to current policy failure
-End with what the impact of these policy failures are having - Most writers include no more than 4-5 striking points of policy failure or interest
Outline the following element of a policy brief: proposed policy options
- Key questions- what to do and what not?
- Getting to the choice of strategic policy alternatives you have identified to fix the failure
- Can be developed or short depending on focus of the brief
- Aim is to present a convincing argument for the option you have chosen
- Includes sections on:
-The options or alternatives considered
-The principles and evaluation criteria you have used to weigh up the options
-An argument on why you have chosen one option over the others available - Level of discussion in this element is at the strategic level, the specifics of how you propose to implement this approach will follow in the next element
Outline the following element of a policy brief: policy recommendations
- Key question- how to implement?
- Aim is to put forward a feasible and practical set of recommendations that could deliver the chosen option and convince the reader you understand how policy systems and govt programmes work
- Includes sections on:
-The specific set of actions that various actors should take to deliver your chosen option
-Sometimes also includes a closing paragraph re-emphasising the importance of action - Space can be an issue. Often features recommendations divided by actor and a synopsis of the series of actions presented using bullet points or numbers
Outline the following element of a policy brief: sources consulted or recommended
- Establish your credibility
- Sources consulted
-List of sources referenced in the paper
-Not extensive, just key sources - Sources recommended
-Other readings you or your organisation have produced that can further inform the discussion in the brief
-Intention is to show you have a reputation and a track record of commentary and analysis in this area
-Usually done by established think tanks and commentators when you feel you have the reputation to make a credible argument without needing to reference others
