Let me tell you ’bout the birds… and the bees and the research-informed policies

People who want to make broccoli and bananas cheaper might not know that much about tax law

Verity (9): “Dad, where do policy ideas come from?”

Dad: “Oh, Verity, have you been scrolling those news feeds on Mummy’s phone?”

V: “I found out about this thing called an election where people keep talking about policy ideas.”

D: “Yes, Mummy and I knew we would have to talk to you about these things one day.”

V: “I heard that some people want to let everybody go to the dentist for free. And then I heard about other people who want to build a brand-new school for teaching people who want to be doctors. And somebody else wanted to do something that would make broccoli and bananas cost less.”

D: “Well, the people who are part of political parties are usually the ones who come up with these ideas, because in an election, the parties that come up with the ideas that people like the most get to rule us for a little while – at least that’s how it’s supposed to work.”

V: “But where do they get their ideas from?”

D: “Well, sometimes they come up with ideas that they think lots and lots of people will like. And sometimes they start from their ideas about what the world should be like (because each party has different ideas about that). Usually, it’s a bit of both those things.”

V: “Oh, that’s cool. So, if I think it’s a good idea for everyone to travel to the moon, and one of these parties says it wants to do that, and they get to rule us for a little while, then that’s how we could all get to the moon!!!”

D: “Well, I’m not so sure it works like that.”

V: “Mum says everyone going to the moon is not very practical. I don’t like her saying that because I really want it to happen. But how do people know whether these policy ideas are practical?”

D: “Well, there’s lots of good questions we can ask.

“The first thing to ask is, ‘Will there be enough people around who can help make this happen?’. People in our health system are already very busy, so they might not have the time and energy to make a new thing happen.

“Another good question is, ‘How much will it cost?’ So, if they really still want it, how are they going to find the money to pay for it, or what other good things will they not be able to pay for?

“But perhaps the most important question of all is, ‘Will the policy idea work?’ To answer that, people need to find out what happened the last time it was tried.”

V: “Is that what people call ‘evidence-based policy’?”

D: “Oh, Verity! People who use that word generally aren’t aware of how crude it is. What they should say instead is ‘research-informed policy’.”

V: “Oh – sorry.”

D: “No, that’s okay – you weren’t to know. Anyway, sometimes we do have a pretty good idea of what things cost, whether enough people are around, and whether something works. And sometimes we don’t. And sometimes people spend a lot of time arguing about the answers to those questions.”

V: “I don’t like it when people argue all the time. Dad, whose job is it to work these things out?”

D: “Well, there are some people whose job it is to give policy advice. Most of these people are called policy advisors and they work for the rulers. They often know quite a lot about what works and how much things cost. Actually, these people should also be good at coming up with new ideas. But they often don’t have much time to do that part of their job, because there is usually something more urgent that the rulers need them to do. So, they don’t come up with very many new ideas at all.”

V: “That’s a shame, isn’t it?”

D: “Well, maybe. But there are all sorts of other people who come up with lots and lots of policy ideas. Some of these people are called interest groups. They often know quite a bit, but the rulers have to be careful not to believe everything they say. And then there are researchers who often know an awful lot about one particular thing. Unfortunately, no researcher knows an awful lot about everything because there is much too much to ever know. For instance, the people who want to make broccoli and bananas cheaper might not know that much about tax law. So, even if research people come up with interesting ideas, rulers need to talk to other people as well.”

V: “But why do some policy ideas get made, but others don’t? Is that to do with the birds and bees?”

D: “We don’t explain things that way any more, Verity. But have they taught you about Charles Darwin and evolution at school yet?”

V: “Umm, a little bit.”

D: “Well, evolution can be really unpredictable and random sometimes. Somebody once suggested that different policy ideas float around in the ‘policy primeval soup’ just like all the early forms of bacterial life. They combine and recombine and produce hybrids and mutations while other ideas become extinct.”

V: “You mean mutations – like three-headed cane toads – are some policy ideas really like that?”

D: “Hmm – yes, most definitely there are ones like that. Perhaps that can be tomorrow’s bedtime chat. Good night, sweetie!”

Tim Tenbensel is professor, health systems, in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland