What is a Policy Brief?
A Policy Brief is a short summary of what is known about a particular issue or problem. Policy briefs are a form of report designed to facilitate policy-making” (Eisele, 2006). The main purpose is to “succinctly evaluate policy options regarding a specific issue, for a specific policy-maker audience” (Eisele, n.d.). Policy-makers need to make practical decisions under time-constraints, so the brief should provide evidence and actionable recommendations (Eisele, n.d.).
The issue brief distils or synthesizes a large amount of complex detail, so the reader can easily understand the heart of the issue, its background, the players (“stakeholders”) and any recommendations, or even educated guesses about the future of the issue. It may have tables and graphs; usually, it has a short list of references, so the reader knows something about the sources on which it is based, and where to go for more information.
What are the components you should include in your Policy Brief Assignment?
Executive Summary
The executive summary aims to convince the reader further that the brief is worth in-depth investigation. It is especially important for an audience that is short of time to clearly see the relevance and importance of the brief in reading the summary. As such, a 1 to 2 paragraph executive summary commonly includes:
A description of the problem addressed;
A statement on why the current approach/policy option needs to be changed;
Your recommendations for action.
Context and importance of the problem/Problem Statement
The purpose of this element of the brief is to convince the target audience that a current and urgent problem exists which requires them to take action. The context and importance of the problem is both the introductory and first building block of the brief. As such, it usually includes the following:
A clear statement of the problem or issue in focus.
A short overview of the root causes of the problem
A clear statement of the policy implications of the problem that clearly establishes the current importance and policy relevance of the issue.
It is worth noting that the length of the problem description may vary considerably from brief to brief depending on the stage on the policy process in focus, e.g. there may be a need to have a much more extensive problem description for policy at the evaluation stage than for one at the option choosing stage.
Critique of policy option(s)
The aim of this element is to detail shortcomings of the current approach or options being implemented and therefore, illustrate both the need for change and focus of where change needs to occur. In doing so, the critique of policy options usually includes the following:
A short overview of the policy option(s) in focus
An argument illustrating why and how the current or proposed approach is failing.
It is important for the sake of credibility to recognize all opinions in the debate of the issue.
Policy Recommendations & Conclusion
The aim of the policy recommendations element is to provide a detailed and convincing proposal of how the failings of the current policy approach need to change. As such this is achieved by including:
A breakdown of the specific practical steps or measures that need to be implemented
Sometimes also includes a closing paragraph re-emphasizing the importance of action.
Criteria
The policy brief may vary in length but should not exceed 5 pages total.
This assignment is worth a total of 100 points.
Please review the grading rubric to determine how to earn the most points for your assignment.
Reference List
Please provide a list of references used in your brief.
As with all good marketing tools, the key to success is targeting a particular audience for your message. The most common audience for a policy brief is the decision-maker but, it is also not unusual to use the document to support broader advocacy initiatives targeting a wide but knowledgeable audience (e.g. decision makers, journalists, diplomats, administrators, researchers). In constructing a policy brief that can effectively serve its intended purpose, it is common for a brief to be:
FOCUSED All aspects of the policy brief (from the message to the layout) need to strategically focused on achieving the intended goal of convincing the target audience. For example, the argument provided must build on what they do know about the problem, provide insight about what they don’t know about the problem and be presented in language that reflects their values, i.e. using ideas, evidence and language that will convince them.
PROFESSIONAL, NOT ACADEMIC The common audience for a policy brief is not interested in the research/analysis procedures conducted to produce the evidence, but are very interested to know the writer’s perspective on the problem and potential solutions based on the new evidence.
EVIDENCED-BASED The policy brief is a communication tool produced by policy analysts and therefore all potential audiences not only expect a rational argument but will only be convinced by argumentation supported by evidence that the problem exists and the consequences of adopting particular alternatives.
LIMITED To provide adequately comprehensive but targeted argument within a limited space, the focus of the brief needs to be limited to a particular problem or area of a problem.
SUCCINCT The type of audiences targeted commonly do not have the time or inclination to read an in-depth 20 page argument on a policy problem. Therefore, it is common that policy briefs do not exceed 6 – 8 pages in length (i.e. usually not longer than 3,000 words). Your Policy Brief should not exceed 5 pages.
UNDERSTANDABLE This not only refers to using clear and simple language (i.e. not the jargon and concepts of an academic discipline) but also to providing a well explained and easy to follow argument targeting a wide but knowledgeable audience.
ACCESSIBLE The writer of the policy brief should facilitate the ease of use of the document by the target audience and therefore, should subdivide the text using clear descriptive titles to guide the reader.
PRACTICAL AND FEASIBLE The policy brief is an action-oriented tool targeting policy practitioners. As such the brief must provide arguments based on what is actually happening in practice with a particular policy and propose recommendations which seem realistic to the target audience.
