Project LEGAL's

Public Policy Analyst



Public Policy Steps


Back

Developing Political Strategies


In the previous section (the Prince System), you learned how to forecast the likelihood that a proposed policy would be implemented. That analysis is based on the information you have about political support and opposition at a given time. However, political support and opposition can change constantly as a result of elections, new social conditions, or even accidents. For example, the support for large government expenditures on drug education increased substantially in 1986 when well-known athletes died from drug overdoses.

Among the main sources of change are the actions different players take to support or oppose a policy. For example, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) threatened to oppose legislators seeking re-election if they did not vote for strong DWI laws. These actions are called strategies because they are taken to achieve a specific goal--to increase or decrease the likelihood that a policy will be implemented.

In this chapter, you will learn how to formulate a strategy using the information you developed in the "Prince System" section.

Selecting a Player for Developing a Strategy