Discussion: Presenting Policy Proposals

Policy practitioners should know that being forewarned is being forearmed. You should know how to diagnose an audience, develop a persuasive strategy, have a “tactics tool bag” for dealing with difficult or expert audiences, and know how to develop non-confrontational communication methods with audiences when necessary. In short, you need to know how to skillfully defend the creative policy proposal you are about to present and how to talk to policy makers who may not be interested in the issues you are presenting.

In this Discussion, you explore and analyze strategies and ideas for presenting policy proposals.

To Prepare: Think about strategies you can use to persuade others who might not share the same concerns about your issues or your policy proposals. Think about how you might defend your position on an issue or a policy and get them to agree with your perspective. Review Chapter 9 of your text, paying special attention to the section entitled “Combative Persuasion in Step 5 and Step 6” from pages 286-292.

By Day 3

Post your responses to the following question:

Policy advocates sometimes find themselves discussing the needs of vulnerable populations with less-than-sympathetic groups of policy makers. Vulnerable populations might include families living in poverty, individuals with histories in the criminal justice system, or groups who have recently immigrated.

How might you communicate the needs of vulnerable populations to policy makers who may not share your views about the need for services?

Be sure to support your post with specific references to this week’s resources. If you are using additional articles, be sure to provide full APA-formatted citations for your references.

By Day 5

Respond to your colleagues’ responses by offering alternative strategies for presenting policy proposals to one or more colleagues.

Colleague: Jaquay Carlton

When addressing vulnerable populations such as veterans with disabilities to less-than-sympathetic policymakers, multiple tactics can be made. The first tactic I would manage when advocating for veterans with disabilities is utilizing a win-win situation. A win-win approach is described as a policymaker and individual work towards a goal to have a mutual solution because our other ideas were not agreed upon (Jansson, 2018). It is essential to avoid the possibility of encountering a win-lose situation. An example of a win-win approach would include finding mutual grounds on veterans’ rights to receive quicker claim decisions when they are filing for benefits. The less-than-sympathetic policymaker and I could agree upon working with the veterans with more complicated situations first and working down the line. A win-lose case would include myself advocating for this population in every aspect and getting turned down. Another tactic that I can utilize relates the people to a loved one or someone close to the policymakers. This could put a different perspective on the situation and sway the policymaker in assisting this population. I would need to approach the less-than-sympathetic policymaker with extensive research and examples to prove my situation. This would include exploiting all of my resources and knowledge to assist the vulnerable and get the social problem heard.

References

Jansson, B. S. (2018). Becoming an effective policy advocate: From policy practice to social justice (8th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning Series.