- 15 Mar, 2021
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policy memo
You will be asked to write a policy memo during the semester. Policy memos are an important way of conveying complex information about different public policies to various audiences in a brief and convincing manner and are used frequently in the real policy world (i.e., not just a classroom exercise). The goal should be to boil down a lot of information into succinct, digestible summary. They should be factual, but that does not mean they need to be impartial. A good policy memo persuades through the presentation of facts and evidence. This policy memo will be about a topic of your choice and if you have questions, please, ask your TA for clarification during the discussion sections.
MY OWN VIEWS OR THE VIEWS OF THE TA ON AN ISSUE WILL NOT COLOR OUR GRADING OF YOUR MEMO. You will be graded based on how persuasively you provide information in support of your preferred policy alternative. I encourage you to consider taking a position that is the opposite of what you actually believe, as this can help you to distance yourself from the subject matter and force you to rely more on fact than personal belief.
Potential audiences for your policy memo may be policymakers, the public at large, key stakeholder groups, constituents. For instance, you may imagine that you are an aid to one of the candidates running for the Democratic or Republican nomination and you have been asked to brief him/her on a policy topic. Or perhaps you are an aid to a local state representative. Alternatively, you may be a researcher for a think tank and your role is to educate the public about a policy issue that is going up for vote. Examples of well-written policy memos will be posted on Blackboard and specific requirements will be discussed in the discussion sections and posted in Blackboard too.
Additional Recommendations:
Policy memos are an important way of conveying complex information about different public policies to various audiences in a brief and convincing manner. The goal should be to boil down a lot of information into succinct, digestible summary. Policy makers seldom have the time to read through all the literature related to a specific policy question. To make well-informed decisions, they rely on short, tightly written briefs that quickly and cogently relay the important policy facts, questions, and arguments about an issue. Memos should be factual, but that does not mean they need to be impartial. A good policy memo persuades through the presentation of facts and evidence.
Overall requirements:
1,000-1,500 words or approximately 2 pages single-spaced or 4 pages double-spaced, with a separate page for references. Feel free to get creative with the display. The examples do not get very creative, but you can include Figures or Graphs if they are helpful, but try to stick to no more than two pages of substantive text. If necessary, you can include the figures or graphs as part of an appendix.
Major Pieces of your Memo:
Choose an Audience. As the examples illustrate, it is important that you select an audience and identify who you are. Your audience can be the general public if you are envisioning this as a policy brief that might be posted on the website of an advocacy group.
Background. Describe what the policy problem is you are trying to address in a compelling manner.
Policy options. Discuss the current policies governing your problem and propose at least one alternative policy. This should include implementation challenges to the adoption of each alternative.
Policy recommendations. Discuss the benefits of your preferred policy and drawbacks of other policy alternatives or of maintaining the status quo.
Throughout the semester you will be drafting the major pieces of your policy memo already. The biggest issues you all need to work on are:
Do more research. Across all sections, your policy memo should be comprised of factual evidence. Avoid all unsubstantiated statements. Practically every sentence should require a citation and you should cite a variety of sources (do not just rely on 2-3 news articles). Cite primary sources (e.g., research studies, studies from think tanks) even if you read about them in a news article. Always try to go to the original source of information. Think of yourself like factcheck.org.
Use a factual tone. This should follow naturally from #1- if you have done adequate research and cite your sources appropriately, your memo will sound more factual. Other things you can do to assist with this is avoid using phrases like “I think,” or “it is my opinion that’. These are not necessary. Also avoid hyperbole- e.g., “obesity is a devastating epidemic that is running rampant in our youth.” Instead just provide compelling facts about the extent of a problem. However, as mentioned before, it is also important to match your tone to the intended audience and make sure you are being honest about the strength of available evidence.
Paraphrase. Also following from 1 & 2, do not include long quotes and try to paraphrase all of the original sources you cite.
I want you to imagine you are writing this for an actual employer and not as an assignment for a course. What kind of tone would you use? How would you want it to sound? As always, please reach out with any questions and use the discussion sections to test your ideas and get feedback from your TA.
Posted in Blackboard are some past examples of well-written memos from class to assist you in understanding expectations regarding flow and tone. None of these are perfect examples but they are quite good.