Caught Matthew Taylor delivering his annual RSA Chief Executive’s lecture “why policy fails – and how it might succeed” (12.09.16), tagged with ‘community engagement.’ He referred to what Helen Margetts and her colleagues describe as “the chaotic pluralism of politics in an age of social media” (a reference to Margetts, H., John, P., Hale, S., and Yasseri, T., 2016. Political Turbulence: How Social Media Shape Collective Action. Woodstock: Princeton University Press). If my thesis is to conclude with ‘Recommendations’, I’d better read this first. Taylor’s conclusion is that policy can only work when it’s part of a bigger shift in social attitudes – “a symbol of a renewed belief in the possibility of major advances in the way we live, the way we treat each other, and in what we expect from life.” It needs to be “shrewdly designed to channel and accelerate a wider civic momentum.” It’s not just chiming with public opinion, but needs to involve civic preparedness. Such ideas are based, he says, on Mary Douglas’ theoretical framework and her observation that successful policy needs to work at three levels, based on the social skills of human beings – a) hierarchy: it works functionally and rationally, authority, expertise, rules, robustness. b) solidarity in terms of values: it appeals to people’s sense of justice and fairness. c) individualism: people can there’s something in it for themselves, it can be used.
How Thesis Recommendations might Succeed
