Presentation to VCOSS CongressThursday 6 August 2009

Monica Pfeffer, Director Social Policy, DHS*

* Not to be held responsible for anything I say

What Universities try to teach you about influencing policy…

a rational approach to policy making

sequential

orderly

This is you

This is you

But unfortunately it doesn’t work like that, so..

….Here’s everything I know about effective advocacy in the real world

In the real world, Ministers want ideas which:

Kill as many birds as possible with the same stone (policy resonance or multiple problem solution)

Make stakeholders happy Gather widespread community support (eg

kindergartens, as opposed to HIV-AIDS) Save money, now or in the medium to long term Make them feel and look good – there are no unsung

heroes in politics! Are guaranteed to deliver benefits, preferably with

very few risks

#1: Problem solving is the most important task of policy

This sounds very unglamorousBut in the Westminster system Ministers are the decision makersAnd they want us (officials and stakeholders alike) to make problems go away[Note this isn’t all bad – the problems can be policy driven rather than political]Ultimately the advocacy task is to persuade Ministers that what you want to do because it’s sound, compassionate policy will solve their problems at the same time (radio talk back hosts, complaining stakeholders, recalcitrant marginal electorates)

#2: Understand the realities of human nature

Nice people

Not-so-nice people

Bureaucrats Ministers

Policy agilityLeave a political legacyUse my scarce political capital for goodResponsive, flexible, able to do deals – don’t tie me down too closely on policy

Make me (not you) look goodRespond to daily media cycleDo over my factional enemies If you criticise me, you’re dead

Policy coherenceLeave an administrative legacyEquitable, rational, transparentMake the world a better place – on our terms

Make me (not you) look good Claim all successes, blame failure on others (inc NGOs)Exploit sector for own advantageOnly interested in own career

The deadly sins

CompetitivenessSelfishnessOpportunismPettinessMeannessSecretivenessDuplicity

The virtues

GenerosityTransparencyTrustworthinessTrustfulnessCollaborationAltruismDiligence

#3: ‘Carpe diem’

Which of course is just a fancy Latin way of justifying (principled) opportunismPolicy works in unpredictable ways and timeframesWe need to be alert for that moment when the planets are in alignment, or the tectonic plates suddenly moveThe smart policy operator never throws out policy proposals, or at least has them safely on a disk somewhere It is critical to keep up the supply of optimism and enthusiasmWe also need to get an instinct for the opposite of ‘carpe diem’, whatever it is – the moment when the battle is lost and it is time to move on

#4: ‘Policy advocacy is like genius – 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration’

If you want to persuade bureaucrats, your policy advocacy needs to show evidence you have: Read everything you can lay our hands on Carefully worked out what the problem is, before leaping

to the solutions. Too often everyone’s touting a fashionable solution in desperate search of a problem

Thought broadly and creatively–group think is rife Grounded your work in the real world…because policy is a

means to an end (solving a problem for real people), not an end in itself

Remember, the plural of anecdote is not evidence!

#5: ‘Lay in a store of anecdotes for the winter’- the other side of the evidence story

This is what I tell public servants and researchers – but you know this alreadyThe more senior Ministers become, the less time they have to

read and the more they rely on instinct and anecdote or the telling single example/illustrationSometimes you need to persuade using the same techniques,

particularly in an oral presentationWe all have to force ourselves to think about the human

dimension of the work we’re doing – is there a coherent story with emotional resonance? This is the theatre of policy making

To influence policy, you have to understand how the political system & its inhabitants work

Get the timing right (carpe diem)Get the language and purpose right – problem solving is good Don’t feed back the Government’s own rhetoric - (a) they know it and (b) they don’t believe itKnow your enemies (hint: Treasury is bound to be in there somewhere)Work on both the killer anecdote, & the data which backs it upFake certainty, even when the evidence is a touch equivocal (it’s for a good cause) Remember, despite evidence to the contrary, people in government are human: be nice to us. Tell us we’re doing a good job but could do an even better one if we [fill in new idea here]Don’t tell us we’re hopeless unless you’re leaving town tomorrow

We need you to help make better public policy!

DON’T only enter the public realm to criticise and undermine each other in the search for competitive advantageIf you’re asked what Government should do, DON’T focus on more funding for your organisation – think about people, not organisationsFocus on constructive solutions, and most importantlyShow MORAL COURAGE – come to the table, help us make the hard choices between priorities, share the risk