Imagine you are a state or city government policy adviser. The governor or city mayor has asked your boss
to brief them on a critical problem facing your community (and therefore one of your agency’s top policy
priorities). You need to develop a comprehensive policy memo that will give your boss:
(1) the critical background information he/she needs on the issue at hand;
(2) analysis of the influence of the state/city legislature, the judicial system, and other state/city government
agencies on the formulation and implementation of a specific policy;
(3) an evaluation of the influence that interest groups, political parties and the media have on the policy at
hand:
(4) a set of options/solutions for your boss to consider regarding a path forward with all these political
players (including pros and cons for each option): and,
(5) a recommended strategy that you want your boss to present to the governor or mayor to win support for
your agency’s policy agenda.
To recap, your memo should:
- Clearly and concisely state the problem you are trying to tackle
- Provide a summary of the current policy context / relevant background
- Analyze the influence of the state or city legislature, the judicial system, and other agencies
- Evaluate the influence of interest groups, political parties, and the media
- Present a set of solutions to the problem for your boss to consider, including pros and cons for each
- Make a realistic recommendation of one of those options and provide further justification for why you are
saying that option is the best.
Sample Solution
