Policy briefs allow students to consider a topic from the perspective of its public importance. They are asked to consider both the needs and perspective of their audience, such as a legislator or the public, and the needs of the population affected by the topic.
A policy brief presents a concise summary of information that can help readers understand, and likely make decisions about, government policies. Policy briefs may give objective summaries of relevant research, suggest possible policy options, or go even further and argue for particular courses of action.
Methods
A short policy brief might summarize the findings of a single research paper. Such reports can be useful short assignments for early in the semester. Longer policy briefs present findings from a broad swath of scholarly research, and may include figures, economic analyses, more extensive background, etc.
An abundance of guidance may be found online by searching for “writing a policy brief” or “guide to policy brief.” Some useful sites follow.
- The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina provides the handout “Policy Briefs” outlining purpose, methods, and structure. The page includes links to two helpful example briefs from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD:
- The International Development Research Centre provides a description of and template for policy briefs on their page How to Write a Policy Brief. They also provide an open-access library of briefs.
- Eoin Young and Lisa Quinn at the International Center for Policy Advocacy provide a handout, “The Policy Brief,” summarizing effective brief style. It includes a section titled “Common Structural Elements of a Policy Brief” that is especially helpful.
Examples
Professional
Searching for “example [xx] policy briefs,” where [xx] represents the discipline of interest, quickly yields lists of useful professional briefs that can be used as in-class examples. For instance:
- The International Development Research Centre’s digital library provides an extensive open access source of policy briefs in a variety of languages.
- The Harvard Kennedy School Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston maintains an online list of their policy briefs relevant to Massachusetts state policies.
- The Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences maintains a library of policy briefs relevant to environment, natural resources, and agriculture.
Student
James Lowenthal’s class AST 220: Astronomy and Public Policy performs the following project:
You are a staff member of a US senator on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Choose an actual senator on the committee in 2017. Research and write a policy briefing to the senator. The general subject should be one of the three main topics of this class that will NOT be the subject of your final presentation. The specific topic of your briefing can be large – e.g. “Controlling light pollution” – or narrow – e.g. “Development of Mauna Kea, HI”.
Learning Goals
- Assess the relationship between research and real-world needs.
- Move from research to recommendations.
- Concision and clarity of expression for a general audience.
- Consider audience, particularly the needs of government officials or legislators.
