Why Should We All Be in Favor of Long-term Public Policies

Public policies have an undeniable impact in everyone’s lives regardless of the country, sector or social class — This is why we should seek for long-lasting ones

Photo by Franki Chamaki on Unsplash

It is common sense to believe that the longevity of policies is directly related to three basic elements: 1) its immediate effectiveness in terms of objectively accomplishing its goals; 2) its positive repercussion among target populations and/or stakeholders by generating a sense of sustainability through accumulated support by those directly impacted by such a measure; and 3) the availability of financial resources for its implementation. This shallow and short-sighted perspective not only obscures the debate in such a neglected field of knowledge, but also levels down the expected results from public authorities’ interventions as well as the value attributed to taxpayers’ money.

Many low- and middle-income countries (high-income ones might as well be the case) certainly lack public policies that are truly structuring, that really focus on the longer term, that are able to propel social and economic development and that contain a vision for the country in themselves. Historically speaking, for each case of successful ‘perennial’ policy, there seems to be a series of ad hoc actions, decrees or circumstantial decision making that turn this proportion quite unbalanced. Legacies of incompetence, corruption and favoring of private interest groups do not help. Oscillations in democratic and/or macroeconomic indicators have the potential to be equally damaging to public policies in force, which end up being discontinued.

Another toxic aspect that prevents the extension of public policies over time, particularly in scenarios of increased political polarization, is the recurring habit of demonizing, demobilizing and dismantling what was formulated and built by the previous administration(s). This is always a lose-lose situation in which the community is harmed the most. Ideally, by observing non-partisan rites of passage, policies that are identified with any specific government should be conceived to transcend this condition and become state policies (as opposed to policies attached to one specific administration). On a global stage, the proposed 2030 agenda of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — building on the progress made upon the 2000–2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — seems like a great incentive for countries to seek some sense of continuity in all of their initiatives.

The fact is that public policies, notwithstanding its time span, should always be preceded by consistent strategic planning as well as surrounded by institutional stability. In case of slight deviations or setbacks, it is advisable that some extra time is allowed for the policy to pursue its maturation so that the opportunity can be provided for results to flourish thereafter. In that sense, governmental authorities, politicians, and civil servants should all be willing to overcome mediocre solutions and palliative measures. Of course, it is also crucial to learn from previous mistakes, consider lessons learned from the past and explore international best practices so that flaws are avoided in the future. Politics, as we know, is a lot like our lives.

The evaluation of public policies can offer a gigantic contribution. Robust studies focusing on the measurement of quantitative and/or qualitative data can only take place in long-term settings, following a longitudinal perspective. It is necessary to look at the horizon. From a scientific standpoint, impacts generated by any policy in the real world can only be documented and assessed upon the collection, systematization, and availability of precise and reliable information over time. The timely follow-up and continuous monitoring of preestablished metrics end up informing decision-making processes. If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. These dynamics should increasingly (if not only) be based on technical aspects and connected to feedback mechanisms that end up benefiting the public policy itself through constant revisiting and frequent adjusting of its variables and original concepts. Thus, as we know, the use of scientific evidence and electronic tools by our rulers has the potential of paving a way distant from personalistic, subjective, centralized, and potentially biased ways of governing. There is no doubt that public administrations in modern nation states should incorporate such an impersonal rationality, which are intrinsically data-driven and evidence-based, as a means of enhancing democratic and republican practices.

Finally, prioritization is another relevant element when it comes to the inexorable scarcity of financial resources in the public sector. The optimization of public spending considering the identified preferences for agendas which represent a converging (if not consensual) point in a crowded, diffuse and fragmented political spectrum seems like the way to go. Controversies and ideological disputes should be left aside while the best resources allocation possible should be guided by public interest, transparency, and participatory mechanisms. We should all be in favor of high-impact and cost-effective public policies. Data and patience are important factors and these take time.