If you have a clear policy objective, you can probably find someone, somewhere to give you a fair hearing.
To clarify, are you suggesting now is a better time than, say one year ago? If so, here are some factors working against such a claim: (a) There are fewer people around, so reaching someone is going to be harder. (b) The people that remain are trying to survive, which involves keeping a low profile. (c) People that will hear you out feel immense pressure to tow the line, which is usually considered the opposite of entertaining new ideas. (d) If an idea gets some traction, any sensible staffer will wonder what chaos will emerge next to render the idea untenable.
Now, if you happen to get an audience for a policy idea, it is also important to ask yourself (i) What is the experience level of the staffer in front of you? (ii) Do they understand how the system works? (iii) Will they be effective stewards for your policy goal?
In this climate especially, one cannot ignore concerns about stability and corruption. The leaders of the current administration seek to expand the power of the executive branch significantly. They are willing to stretch—and break—the rule of law, as various court orders have demonstrated. My point? An unstable political and legal environment is not conducive to serious policy aims. Policy, no matter what the aim, is predicated on a legal foundation that operates over time in some kind of known environment.
For example, if one’s actual policy objective is to, say, modernize the IRS (which I would support, if done properly), there are steps to do this. Given the Republican Party’s control of all three branches of government, they could do this legally. Many (perhaps most?) rational thinkers would support simplifying the tax code, increasing compliance, and increasing operational efficiency, even though we have different ideas about the aims and scope of government policy.
Now is dramatically better than a year ago. It’s not even comparable. Rewrite the cover sheet on your policy idea and ping your network.
The incoming leadership has a massive amount of flexibility, given that they’re fundamentally reshaping so many things at once, but in many cases just have vague ideas rather than specific programs. Give them specific proposals that they can align with their vague pronouncements.
Bureaucrats are finding themselves taking on responsibilities for people who were shifted out the door in a hurry, and have incoming leadership who need staff support badly. The survivors will likely have much more leeway than they did before to stop doing things they don’t want to do, and start doing things they do.
Private sector actors are confronted with government agencies that are in disarray and distracted. Now is a great time to take action.
Uncertainty creates a lot of anxiety, so if you’re generally afraid of your own shadow, you’ll turtle up and hope the storm passes. Given that so many others are doing exactly that, someone ambitious has an opportunity to shape reality around themselves to a degree which was absolutely not possible last year. This is a great time to get stuff done, as long as you’re razor focused on the specific things you actually want.
That being said, if you haven’t spent the last few years working on developing relationships with people in those groups, you might have a problem. They’re probably not talking to anyone they didn’t trust before all this chaos started.
To clarify, are you suggesting now is a better time than, say one year ago? If so, here are some factors working against such a claim: (a) There are fewer people around, so reaching someone is going to be harder. (b) The people that remain are trying to survive, which involves keeping a low profile. (c) People that will hear you out feel immense pressure to tow the line, which is usually considered the opposite of entertaining new ideas. (d) If an idea gets some traction, any sensible staffer will wonder what chaos will emerge next to render the idea untenable.
Now, if you happen to get an audience for a policy idea, it is also important to ask yourself (i) What is the experience level of the staffer in front of you? (ii) Do they understand how the system works? (iii) Will they be effective stewards for your policy goal?
In this climate especially, one cannot ignore concerns about stability and corruption. The leaders of the current administration seek to expand the power of the executive branch significantly. They are willing to stretch—and break—the rule of law, as various court orders have demonstrated. My point? An unstable political and legal environment is not conducive to serious policy aims. Policy, no matter what the aim, is predicated on a legal foundation that operates over time in some kind of known environment.
For example, if one’s actual policy objective is to, say, modernize the IRS (which I would support, if done properly), there are steps to do this. Given the Republican Party’s control of all three branches of government, they could do this legally. Many (perhaps most?) rational thinkers would support simplifying the tax code, increasing compliance, and increasing operational efficiency, even though we have different ideas about the aims and scope of government policy.
Now is dramatically better than a year ago. It’s not even comparable. Rewrite the cover sheet on your policy idea and ping your network.
The incoming leadership has a massive amount of flexibility, given that they’re fundamentally reshaping so many things at once, but in many cases just have vague ideas rather than specific programs. Give them specific proposals that they can align with their vague pronouncements.
Bureaucrats are finding themselves taking on responsibilities for people who were shifted out the door in a hurry, and have incoming leadership who need staff support badly. The survivors will likely have much more leeway than they did before to stop doing things they don’t want to do, and start doing things they do.
Private sector actors are confronted with government agencies that are in disarray and distracted. Now is a great time to take action.
Uncertainty creates a lot of anxiety, so if you’re generally afraid of your own shadow, you’ll turtle up and hope the storm passes. Given that so many others are doing exactly that, someone ambitious has an opportunity to shape reality around themselves to a degree which was absolutely not possible last year. This is a great time to get stuff done, as long as you’re razor focused on the specific things you actually want.
That being said, if you haven’t spent the last few years working on developing relationships with people in those groups, you might have a problem. They’re probably not talking to anyone they didn’t trust before all this chaos started.