One-line summary: Most policy change outside a prior Overton Window comes about by policy advocates skillfully exploiting a crisis.
In the last year or so, I’ve had dozens of conversations about the DC policy community. People unfamiliar with this community often share a flawed assumption, that reaching policymakers and having a fair opportunity to convince them of your ideas is difficult. As ”we”[1] have taken more of an interest in public policy, and politics has taken more of an interest in us, I think it's important to get the building blocks right.
Policymakers are much easier to reach than most people think. You can just schedule meetings with congressional staff, without deep credentials.[2] Meeting with the members themselves is not much harder. Executive Branch agencies have a bit more of a moat, but still openly solicit public feedback.[3] These discussions will often go well. By now policymakers [...]
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Outline:
(01:33) A Model of Policy Change
(02:43) Crises can be Schelling Points
(04:30) Avoid Being Seen As Not Serious
(06:08) What Crises Can We Predict?
The original text contained 8 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.
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First published:
March 4th, 2025
Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/vHsjEgL44d6awb5v3/the-milton-friedman-model-of-policy-change
Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.