The importance of diverse perspectives
As Power to Persuade gears up for 2023 in an uncertain and changing world, its Director Dr Sue Olney discusses the constant importance of viewing social policy challenges from different angles. Read on to see how you can contribute to Power to Persuade in 2023.
Power to Persuade has been examining opportunities and challenges in social policy around the world since 2011. Through our blog, Twitter, and occasional symposiums, we offer a platform for exchanging ideas and evidence to people involved in designing, implementing, researching and/or navigating social policy – government, academics, the community sector, and people whose lives are shaped by it. Over the last twelve years, the lines between those groups have blurred as more people move between them. But at times, even within their own ranks, they have contrasting views of how social policy should be designed, translated into practice, and evaluated.
No single person, organisation or institution has the solution to complex policy problems, and we can’t assume consensus on the nature and causes of those problems either. This was starkly evident in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, when known fault lines in social policy cracked fast. There were terrible human costs, but also rapid advances in collaboration across jurisdictions and sectors, marshalling resources, listening to people affected by policy decisions, and changing ways of working. Whether lessons from the pandemic will stick remains to be seen.
Modern governments design, implement and evaluate social policy on shifting sands. They’re juggling citizens’ changing expectations, declining trust in institutions, shifting power relations, rapid technological change, competing interpretations of evidence, competing needs and priorities, and global social, economic, health and environmental forces. In line with the priorities of Ministers, decisions are made within different parts of the public sector about how public services should be delivered and by whom, and how service delivery should be monitored, with varying regard for ripple effects. Decision-makers frame policy problems and solutions, and choose and apply policy instruments, within parameters they can manage. The resulting institutional landscape is a messy and changeable mix of government and non-government actors collecting and interpreting data for multiple and competing purposes, and designing and delivering services to citizen ‘clients’ within a broad range of governance structures, legislation, performance measures, direct and indirect funding mechanisms, rules, processes and philosophical standpoints.
So how can a platform like Power to Persuade help people both with and without power to better understand and solve immediate policy problems, and shape the future of social policy?
It begins with recognising and respecting the value of different forms of knowledge and networks. On our blog, you’ll find articles from acknowledged experts, early career researchers, policymakers, frontline workers, and people and communities affected by policy decisions. Our content is moderated on a weekly roster by an incredible team of volunteers from Australian and international universities and the community sector, backed by people with deep expertise and long-standing interest in social policy.
Power to Persuade invites everyone to contribute to knowledge and debate around social policy, to draw on lessons from around the world, and to build constructive connections with people with different experiences and expertise. We encourage you to share your experiences of navigating policy processes and of social policy initiatives, programs and projects. We want to hear what works well in Australia and internationally; stories of unintended consequences; challenges you have faced or are facing in social policy; and things you’d like to see done differently.
Through open, constructive and respectful debate and discussion on this platform, our combined voices can be a powerful force for change.