there’s likely a kind of “position warfare” going on in policy circles to make sure your position is the one that’s primed to win if the conditions for its enactment are suddenly met
I’m not sure how much “position warfare” happens for all but the most predictable events. After policy surprises there’s usually a big fight to claim credit for predicting the crisis and a mandate for what to do about it. People and organizations certainly prepare for that (and I think our community should prepare more), but it’s more by making predictions, finding allies, refining arguments, and writing plans.
I think this is somewhat true, but also think in Washington it’s also about becoming known as “someone to go talk to about this” whether or not they’re your ally. Being helpful and genial and hosting good happy hours is surprisingly influential.
Maybe “warfare” is the wrong metaphor here, but there’s a kind of constant competition for idea salience since policy makers can only know or care about so many possible ideas. Out of all the stuff they could think about, they will maybe consider 3 options max to respond to a crisis, not 10 or 100, so the question becomes how does an idea get to become one of those 3.
I’m not sure how much “position warfare” happens for all but the most predictable events. After policy surprises there’s usually a big fight to claim credit for predicting the crisis and a mandate for what to do about it. People and organizations certainly prepare for that (and I think our community should prepare more), but it’s more by making predictions, finding allies, refining arguments, and writing plans.
I think this is somewhat true, but also think in Washington it’s also about becoming known as “someone to go talk to about this” whether or not they’re your ally. Being helpful and genial and hosting good happy hours is surprisingly influential.
Maybe “warfare” is the wrong metaphor here, but there’s a kind of constant competition for idea salience since policy makers can only know or care about so many possible ideas. Out of all the stuff they could think about, they will maybe consider 3 options max to respond to a crisis, not 10 or 100, so the question becomes how does an idea get to become one of those 3.