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
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)
Common Core Math: when the how undermines the what
written by Salimah Samji Without the how, the what remains fiction — often compelling fiction. Development is littered with examples of projects/reforms that have failed because no one systematically thought through how the project/reform would actually be implemented given the local capacity and context. The common assumption is that if you design a technically sound…Continue Reading Common Core Math: when the how undermines the what
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