Causal Stories and Framing
This theorist argued that “problem definition is image making,” meaning conditions only become problems when framed as such.
Who is Deborah Stone?
The Background section of a memo should include three things: evidence, impact, and this element that explains why the issue is urgent now.
What is timing?
Effectiveness, equity, and feasibility are examples of these evaluative standards.
What are policy criteria?
This political scientist wrote How Change Happens—or Doesn’t.
Who is Elaine Kamarck?
In the Executive Summary, always lead with this to capture the decision-maker’s attention.
What is your recommendation?
Name the four types of causal stories Stone identifies.
What are accidental, inadvertent, intentional, and mechanical?
The policy memo’s problem statement serves as this type of narrative according to Stone’s theory.
What is a causal story?
Policymakers respect this more than perfection when authors acknowledge competing priorities.
What are trade-offs?
The U.S. system makes sweeping change hard because it contains these, which make it easier to block than pass reforms.
What are veto points?
The most common error in Key Findings sections is blurring descriptive, evaluative, and this type of evidence.
What is prescriptive evidence?
A company hiding safety data to protect profits is an example of which causal type?
What is intentional?
Policymakers appreciate memos that present these instead of a single favored idea.
What are policy options?
This analytical tool scores each policy option against chosen criteria, often from 1–5.
What is a decision matrix?
The Policy Battlefield Framework includes six fronts, ending with this electoral factor that can create or destroy reform momentum.
What are elections?
To make a memo more readable to busy officials, writers should favor plain language, bullets, and avoid this.
What is jargon?
When a purposeful action has unintended consequences—like social media designed to connect people but spreading misinformation—it’s called this.
What is inadvertent causation?
The three qualities of good policy options are that they’re plausible, distinct, and this.
What is actionable?
A good analysis paragraph identifies a top option and mentions both a strength and this.
What is a limitation or trade-off?
Problems that shift from private to public concern—like smoking or obesity—fall into this policy category.
What are private-to-public problems?
A strong conclusion doesn’t just summarize—it ends with this quality that motivates action.
What is urgency?
Reframing the Flint Water Crisis as a systemic infrastructure failure instead of individual negligence turns the story into this type.
What is mechanical causation?
This section transitions your memo from analysis to decision by taking a stand backed by criteria.
What is the Recommendation section?
The best recommendations are evidence-based, decisive, and supported by at least two of these.
What are criteria?
Successful policy solutions share four traits: they’re rooted in values, simple, certain, and supported by this type of coalition.
What are strange bedfellows?
Policy writers must link every claim in their analysis to this evaluative element to maintain credibility.
What is a criterion (or criteria)?