THE BUCHANAN INSTITUTE

Ideally, your proposals need to be reasonably short and concise. So they get your message across in the most effective way possible. We are proposing our policies to Government officials, policy makers, business and public sector leaders, so we need to be able to get their attention. Proposals will be roughly between 800 and 1200 words and should fit on to two sides of A4 paper. They need to be filled with rigorous and eye-catching evidence which makes your proposal impossible to overlook. The language should be understandable and accessible, over-complicated phrasing and jargon should be avoided.

 

There is no exact blueprint for a proposal, but a rough guideline is:

 

- Title (what are you proposing)

- Short intro (what are you proposing and why it will make an impact)

- The current situation and why it needs to change

- Why your proposal provides the answers

- Offer up alternative or previously used policies and explain why yours is better

- Sum up what you are proposing and why it needs to happen

 

Here is a guideline from Global Public Policy Debate:

 

Title: Try to keep your title concise, so as not to lose the attention of the reader: 10 words or less is a common rule of thumb. The title of your policy brief may seem like a minor point; however, the title is the first thing your audience will read of your brief, so it has to attract them and ensure they consider your paper. Try to make your title memorable by choosing a provocative or surprising title, so that it sticks in the reader’s mind. It is often best to communicate your key message and the need for change in the title.

 

What is the problem and what do you propose? Describe the issues that your government must address at the very beginning of your memo. Here you need to state what you perceive as the problem (including the people and organizations affected by it), based on one of the four scenarios. Describe the government’s current stance on the issue and any previous attempt to resolve it. Propose a response to these issues – the policy itself.

 

What other proposals have been tried and what was their impact? In writing the main part of your memo, look at alternative proposals and analyze them in a comparative fashion. Defend your arguments against contradictory evidence where necessary and provide in-depth analysis aimed at identifying the strategically and practically most viable policy. Introduce strong, objective evidence alongside this information and evaluate its reliability and applicability.

 

Why does your proposal work? Based on the analysis, describe the policy for your government to adopt. Explain both the broad, principled approach that the government should take, but also detail the practical aspects of the plan. Discuss the impact of the plan and describe how it would address the issues you set out at the start of the document.

 

Concluding remarks: Finally, try to ensure that your memorandum feels complete. After completing each individual component of your policy memorandum, briefly summarize the document as whole. Re-introduce the problems or issues that you have explored in a concise way; re-state your policy; re-examine your key evidence and show your readers why it is relevant to your argument. Conclude your memorandum by demonstrating to your readers that your response is logical, relevant and complete.

 

Reference list: At the end of the memo, include a list of full references to the materials, which you have cited.