Government Capacity

Increasing the “Policy Readiness” of Ideas

07.12.24 | 5 min read | Text by Tom Kalil

NASA and the Defense Department have developed an analytical framework called the “technology readiness level” for assessing the maturity of a technology – from basic research to a technology that is ready to be deployed.  

A policy entrepreneur (anyone with an idea for a policy solution that will drive positive change) needs to realize that it is also possible to increase the “policy readiness” level of an idea by taking steps to increase the chances that a policy idea is successful, if adopted and implemented.  Given that policy-makers are often time constrained, they are more likely to consider ideas where more thought has been given to the core questions that they may need to answer as part of the policy process.

A good first step is to ask questions about the policy landscape surrounding a particular idea:

1. What is a clear description of the problem or opportunity?  What is the case for policymakers to devote time, energy, and political capital to the problem?

2. Is there a credible rationale for government involvement or policy change?  

Economists have developed frameworks for both market failure (such as public goods, positive and negative externalities, information asymmetries, and monopolies) and government failure (such as regulatory capture, the role of interest groups in supporting policies that have concentrated benefits and diffuse costs, limited state capacity, and the inherent difficulty of aggregating timely, relevant information to make and implement policy decisions.)

3. Is there a root cause analysis of the problem? 

One approach that Toyota has used to answer this question is the “five whys,” which can prevent an analyst from providing a superficial or incomplete explanation with respect to a given problem.

4. What can we learn from past efforts to address the problem?  If this is a problem U.S. policymakers  have been working on for decades without much success, is there a new idea worth trying, or an important change in circumstances?

5. What can we learn from a comparative perspective, such as the experiences of other countries or different states and regions within the United States?

6. What metrics should be used to evaluate progress? What strategy should policy-makers have for dealing with Goodhardt’s Law? 

Goodhardt’s Law states that when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to become a good measure.  A police chief under pressure to reduce the rate of violent crime might reclassify certain crimes to improve the statistics.

7. What are the potential policy options, and an assessment of those options?  Who would need to act to approve and implement these policies?

This question – as is often the case – leads to more questions:

• What is the evidence to support different options?
• What is the logic model associated with a given option?  Why is it likely that a given policy change will have the desired impact?
• What policy instrument or instruments are required to achieve the goals associated with the idea?  Who would need to act to both approve and implement these policies?
• Is it possible to measure the costs and benefits?  Some policy fields, such as global health, measure the “outcome per dollar” of different interventions as measured by QALYs (quality-adjusted life-years) saved per dollar.
• What is the political and administrative feasibility of a given option?
• What are the potential unintended consequences of a policy proposal?

8. What are the documents that are needed to both facilitate a decision on the idea, and implement the idea?  

In the U.S. context, examples of these documents or processes include:

• Decision memos.  These memos typically provide background information on the policy proposal, why a decision is required, the policy options, and the pros and cons of those options.
• Executive Orders signed by the President.
• Policy guidance provided by one or more agencies, such as the Office of Management and Budget.
• Strategy documents that describe how a mix of policy actions is designed to achieve a goal or set of goals.
• Budget proposals and Congressional appropriations.
• Legislation or legislative amendments.
• Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for regulatory actions.
• A charter for an inter-agency working group.
• Job descriptions for efforts to recruit people with important skills to the public sector.
• A “request for proposals” for competitively-allocated funds for grants and contracts.
• Rules for an incentive prize, Advance Market Commitment, or other market-shaping intervention. 
• Descriptions of “commitments to action” from companies, non-profits, universities, philanthropists and foundations, state and local governments, investors, etc.

9. Has the idea been reviewed and critiqued by experts, practitioners, and stakeholders?  Is there a coalition that is prepared to support the idea?  How can the coalition be expanded?

• What legitimate concerns have been raised, and what are potential responses to these concerns?
• To the extent that there are significant disagreements about those ideas, why might people and stakeholders disagree?  This might be different interpretation of data, different views about whether a given policy proposal is likely to be effective, ideological disagreements, or divergent interests.
• Are there creative ways to reconcile differences of opinion and interests?

10. How might tools such as discovery sprints, human-centered design, agile governance, and pilots be used to get feedback from citizens and other key stakeholders, and generate early evidence of effectiveness?

11. What steps can be taken to increase the probability that the idea, if approved, will be successfully implemented? 

For example, this might involve analyzing the capacity of the relevant government agencies to implement the recommended policy.

12. How can the idea be communicated to the public?  

For example, if you were a speechwriter, what stories, examples, quotes, facts and endorsements would you use to describe the problem, the proposed solution, and the goal?  What are the questions that reporters are likely to ask, and how would you respond to them?

Perhaps you have some experience with policy entrepreneurship and have suggestions on the right questions to ask about a policy idea to increase its “readiness level”. Comment on Tom’s LinkedIn post, where you can add wisdom that could be helpful to others learning about how to make positive change through policy.