Policy—A midsummer night's dream

Thursday, August 7, 2003 - by Peter Golden

It all began about three weeks ago, when I awoke around five one morning and realized I was woefully deficient in the area of policy development. How's that for a dorky reason for hauling out of the sack?

You think I'm talking about the niceties of selling life insurance? Not quite. In the stratospheric world of big-league politics and government, policy is the equivalent of the Ark of the Covenant. Inside is a vision of the future. But just as the Ark is a somewhat ambiguous artifact, lost in the mists of time, policy too tends to assume vague and changeable forms.

Given the critical importance of policy development as a guide to state and national affairs, it's easy to understand its fascination to those who seek power. Consider the critical areas in which policy plays a determining role in our collective life.

The economy, defense, agriculture and foreign affairs come to mind, as do health, housing and transportation. Add education, energy and the environment to the list. Put welfare and criminal justice on there too, then add civil liberties for good measure.

These are the "bins" into which we sort the national enterprise. How we conceive of, plan for and execute its conduct—in part through government, but also through the private sector—in large part determines the quality of our lives.

I don't know about you, but between keeping the yard in shape and getting into the office every morning, I just don't have that much time to devote to renewable energy alternatives or how to hold spiraling health care costs in check. So I'm looking around for help.

Happily, for those of us without the resources to study current affairs and develop our own formulations as to what initiatives our government should take in pursuit of "the best policy," there are many helping hands in this challenging business. Given the stakes, one can understand why.

The American economy may be in a slump these days, but the almost 300 million souls occupying the United States still manage to pump out $10 trillion worth of everything under the sun in a typical year. It's enough to set the policy antennae aquiver of the most benighted businessperson or bureaucrat.

Whether one presumes to act for the greater good or simply is out to cage a larger piece of the action we'll leave for posterity to determine. Control of policy is the means to either end.

For you and me, trying to sort through all those helpful policy development groups in terms of the utility of their ideas is a mind bender of the first magnitude. Start with the big bears of the business, Rand and the Brookings Institution. The former has a major impact on military and technology thinking, the latter in the areas of economic and social policy. But they're just part of a list that includes other policy powerhouses like the Council on Foreign Relations, the Hoover Institute and the Civil Liberties Union.

Some share similar points of view; others are widely divergent in their perspectives, but count on all of them being influential on the creation of legislation and executive policy at the federal and state level. In short, there's a small but highly competitive marketplace for new ideas—the media lives off the stuff—and the payoff lies in the ability to influence the direction in which the states and nation are headed.

But don't take my word for it. Next time you're surfing the Web, type "think tanks" into your search engine and get a gander for yourself. You'll see almost immediately what woke me from a sound sleep at five in the morning and left me so frustrated by five in the evening.

Of course think tanks are just one component of the non-stop discussion regarding our collective future. Private foundations—think Ford, Rockefeller, Kellogg, McArthur and you're only touching the tip of the iceberg—also have a major role to play. Journals like The Nation and The New Republic and television programs like "Frontline" also are part of the equation. Dare I suggest even the op ed pages of the MetroWest Daily News figure in the proceedings?

A note of caution is in order. Thinking long and hard about issues of major public importance opens one immediately to charges of presumption and arrogance, of trying to act like a big shot. Worse, one might feel compelled to become politically active, vote more often, urge others to do the same and even run for elected office. What if your children found out you were in politics?

Not to worry about me, though. By the time I work my way through the morass of conflicting agendas, ideas and initiatives represented by all those think tanks, foundations and institutes, I'll be so superannuated as to be incapable of action.

Time to go back to sleep, to let slip the greater good regardless if it meets the test of general approbation or is no more than a cloak in which to clothe bounding ambition. Who dares to marshal bold ideas to a cause and speak with a public voice? In MetroWest the drowsy days of August are upon us.

Peter Golden continues to pursue a good night's rest in Natick.

 
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