Guest blog written by Julia Martin “PDIA is about engaging with the people in the place.” If I think back to the last few months, this line from Matt’s blog strikes a chord. Coming into the course, I really had a serious case of the “not enoughs” – not enough experience, not enough expertise, not…Continue Reading Engage with the People in the Place
Finding Family through Process Improvement in the U.S.
Guest blog written by Maggie Jones Trey’s words hung in the air. Would you like to go to Harvard? A million thoughts ran through my head as I watched the unsuspecting traffic pass outside my office. Of course I wanted to go. I had to go. As soon as “yes” stumbled out of my mouth…Continue Reading Finding Family through Process Improvement in the U.S.
Solving Complex Problems in Albany
Guest blog written by David Galin Coming into this course, I was under the impression it was going to help me better understand the nuances of implementing policy from a roadmap that was created for every situation. I was a bit nervous we would be taught a rigid set of procedures on how to implement…Continue Reading Solving Complex Problems in Albany
Three Lessons of PDIA, or the Art of Public Policy
Guest blog written by Olga Yulikova It is not surprising to anyone who is a part of the PDIA community that Matt Andrew’s book Building State Capability uses medical metaphors and examples to describe public policy. Like Matt, I too believe that policy-making is a form of therapy for society’s ailments. (Wouldn’t be great if…Continue Reading Three Lessons of PDIA, or the Art of Public Policy
Improving Roadside Ecology in Calgary
Guest blog written by Andrew McIntyre Public policy is hard. Mitigating climate change as biodiversity continues to decline, tackling growing wealth inequality, and building a healthy, pluralistic society in the face of rising authoritarian populist movements across the world are just some of the most significant problems facing governments in 2019. These problems are complex,…Continue Reading Improving Roadside Ecology in Calgary
Why I Almost Left Local Government (and Why I Decided to Stay)
Guest blog written by Maggie Jones Public sector work is not for the faint at heart. Over a 48-hour period, you may experience a rollercoaster of emotions including: Inspiring others about why they should pursue a career in local government Shutting the office down early due to a citizen threat Receiving one of your best…Continue Reading Why I Almost Left Local Government (and Why I Decided to Stay)
Strengthening Capabilities in City Government
We work alongside other exciting initiatives at Harvard that also support state capability. One of these is the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership initiative. The following is a description of their work. Funded by a four-year $32 million gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative is a collaboration between HKS, HBS, and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Government…Continue Reading Strengthening Capabilities in City Government
Why are there so many mass shootings in the USA?
written by Matt Andrews, Mark Moore, Lant Pritchett and Salimah Samji This is a crowdsourcing effort to understand why … and to help foster a common response. Many governments lack the capabilities to play the roles needed for their countries to work well and prosper. These capabilities are often missing because policy-makers cannot agree on…Continue Reading Why are there so many mass shootings in the USA?
You cannot Juggle without the Struggle: How the USA historically avoided the “Tyranny of Experts”
written by Lant Pritchett The period between the end of the American Civil War and the end of World War II saw a transformation of America with the rise of dominant large organizations in both the private economy and public life. The economic historian Alfred Chandler’s in The Visible Hand and Scale and Scope documents…Continue Reading You cannot Juggle without the Struggle: How the USA historically avoided the “Tyranny of Experts”
PDIA and Obamacare
written by Matt Andrews Governments often face unenviable tasks that border on the impossible, given particularly thorny political and administrative complexities. Commentators typically deride governments when they fail in their initial attempts to address such tasks. They pen new laws that are less than many had hoped for, and call public agencies inefficient (or worse)…Continue Reading PDIA and Obamacare