Today strikes us as an opportune day to recount some worthy quotes about sound public policy. The authors are purposely omitted so that their words might be considered for their import alone.
“Wishful thinking is not sound public policy.”
“Public policy is designed by spin doctors who aim to keep our heads below the water. The public good is not a consideration and their self-serving agendas prevail over common sense.”
“Numeracy isn’t a sign of geekiness but a basic requirement for intelligent discussions of public policy.”
“Power tends to protect itself merely to maintain its own status and control. Principle gives up power for the sake of creating the best public policy.”
“The constant need for special waivers is symptomatic of poorly written public policy. It’s a signal that the cost of compliance is unreasonably high, the benefits are hard to measure and either legislators or regulators have failed to do their homework.”
“Judges who take the law into their own hands, who make up constitutional ‘rights’ in order to strike down laws they oppose, undermine the people’s right to have their values shape public policy and define the culture.”
“The notion that one’s home is one’s castle and you can pull up the drawbridge is not one that people in public policy circles believe in.”
“Admittedly I possess virtually no expertise in science. That puts me in the exact same position as most dogmatic environmentalists who want to craft public policy around environmental fears.”
“Aside from the occasional genocide, oppression, evil and torture, etc., it is inarguable that public policy could be implemented more rapidly in an autocracy.”
“The contemporary political scientist believes that he can avoid the necessity of moral judgments and that he can help frame public policy without committing himself to any ethical position.”
“I learned that you have to evaluate the effects of public policy as opposed to intentions.”
“Doing nothing in the public policy world allows much more to be done in the real world.”
Words to think by as these evolving uncertain times continue to play out.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
