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Old 27-04-2014, 02:32 PM
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i think some points listed above may not be true. policy-making doesn't just entail writing papers in your cubicles; long hours yes no doubt about that. there's a fair share of back-and-fro with your superiors, clearing every single layer and incorporating their inputs. depending on policy complexity, rolling out a new initiative/programme could take 3 months at its fastest, to 9-12 months, or for those with far-reaching implications (think IRs), even years and umpteen Cab memos.

The final submission will likely resemble 20-30% of what you wrote in your very first, raw prelim draft but that's to be expected. As a policy officer, you do the legwork of doing research, speaking to the right parties (private and people sectors, foreign agencies, VWOs, straight to the heartland citizens via PA, etc), and knowing your stuff well know to convey your points across.

You'll be mightily surprised that most of the times, bosses do not clearly know what they want. It's up to the staff to propose and explore feasible alternatives and on balance (hard to escape this lingo), make a recommendation.

Whether you are ruminating over and again over the same policy, or moving on to devising new or reviewing existing policies, it really depends. But if you're a high-flier/scholar, your boss will probably move you on to the next big thing and focus on other top-line policies once again.

Hope that helps.
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