Creating a Footprint in Policy Blogging
& how this works when you aren't a research house or politician.
Dear Readers,
I was asked recently how I do my work. I am not a research institution, a lobbyist, or a policy maker. How can I possibly take hundreds of pages of complex policy, often written vaguely, and synthesize it accurately and unbiased for a reader.
The person asked a good question. I didn’t love the question because at the time it felt delegitimizing, but it was an important and defining question for me to answer. Here is what I meditated on:
In all the places I have travelled and lived, there is one shared human experience that transcends borders, cultures, skin colors, genders, ages and even language. It is that people see the problems the world faces and want to be the change, but they don’t know how. These are mothers and fathers with jobs and babies to raise, angsty adolescents with school to focus on, working professionals with limited time, and people who are just trying to survive the system, much less change it. Changing the world ethically and effectively takes time, research, awareness of the players in various fields, and deep knowledge of policy...a luxury that not everyone has.
Policy is the “how” in society, and one of the biggest problems I have seen time and time again is that policy is written by people who themselves do not share in the burden of poor policy outcomes. It is well-intentioned (most of the time) people who may not have to live the consequences of the system they create. But for the people directly affected by policy, the language around policy is often complex and inaccessible, and they have other duties that take precedence over fighting poor policy. This creates dynamic dysfunction within systems.
This is where I come in. I am leveraging my time, education, and command of language to create a space where policy is more accessible to the average person. I have made it my job to make policy more accessible so that people of limited time and various passions have a go-to spot where they can find out what is happening in their area of interest. I am creating a source where people who want to change the world know who the players are in their area of interest, where conversations about these issues are being held, and how to participate in, engage, and stand up to policy effectively and efficiently. I want passionate people whose time is limited to be more effective with their limited time in changing the world.
I do this by examining existing policy and breaking it down so that it is more comprehensible and accessible to the reader. I use existing research in the field to outline the problems, evidence based solutions, and discussions being had in the given policy area. I access this research through various reliable research databases from around the world that I pay to access, and various policy journals in which I invest my time and money. In my research, I am both transparent and verifiable.
I have a soap-box speech about credentialing in our culture, but for the sake of ethos and transparency, it’s important you know what qualifies me to do this job. I am an expert in none of the subfields I will write about (for example sustainability or education), but I am excellent at research, comprehension, applied thought, and bringing people smarter than me in their various fields into the fold of my work. What I am is educated in policy - and it is in this area that I care to become an expert. I received my Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Illinois in May of 2020. Through my education I focused on policy. I received my BA in Pre-law from Washington State University in May of 2014. I also minored in both ethics and in cultural studies. Additionally, I am certified as a Professional Writer through WSU…I completed this during my time as an undergrad.
I am passionate about policy, and if you have ever discussed social, economic, and global issues such as war, health care, the environment/sustainability, food security, education, migration, family stability, crime, poverty, and human trafficking (just to name a few), so are you. I am not a research house, and where the original question seemed to insinuate a flaw in my approach, I actually figured out that it is this alone that gives me flexibility to focus on various areas of policy so that I might be your policy partner for change.
As we continue forward together, you will see more changes coming to the blog and newsletter. Things are changing over here, rapidly, and I cannot express to you how grateful I am for your continued support in this messy period of growth, of structure and restructure, and of navigating the ever-changing website menus. It’s going to be mildly chaotic for a little while as I find my footing, but it’s work that must be done with urgency, because there is no time for any of us to lose.
All my heart and mind,
Taylor Patrice
Reading: Power, by Robert Greene. I literally told the girlfriend who handed me this book that I don’t want to tell other people about this book because applying the principles that fills these pages to my life will give me a leg-up in anything I do. Selfishly, I’d rather be the sole knower of power tricks. This book is phenomenal, and because of this, I kind of hope you don’t read it.
Eating: Takeout. Eric got a new job, and I took on a new leadership role in addition to the blog, and so I hate to admit that it’s been a lot of takeout, but we all gotta do what we gotta do.
Loving: The book above. It’s literally my whole rage right now.
Doing: You wouldn’t know this if I didn’t tell you, but this silly little pot of plants is love materialized. One of my dearest friends is moving away (as is the way of the military) and now, my non-green-thumbed self has adopted a bunch of quirky houseplants. When she assembled this arrangement, she was so proud of herself. Her mission in life is to save abused houseplants, and since she can’t take all of them with her to the next duty station, now with my time I am actively learning how to love a bunch of crooked soil-babies with various needs the way they deserve to be loved. Also officially recently added to my soap-box collection of topics: we have a moral imperative to be nicer to house plants.
Last week’s blog was all about Facebook & Instagram’s data policy. If you are on any of the Facebook Co. platforms, it is IMPERATIVE THAT YOU READ THIS POST. Warning: It might ruin your day (and it probably should)…but as a member of a country whose citizens love to preach Constitutional Rights at every possible juncture, I am honestly SO PERPLEXED that more people aren’t standing up against these policies…given their relationship to the 4th Amendment.
Currently in the works is Policy Out Loud - More to come about this…but this is a teaser of what is happening behind the scenes. All things Policy, Audio, and Live Conversations is working its way to the platform.
A bunch of you are already subscribed to premium content, and it’s literally the coolest vote of confidence I can think of - that you invest in my work with your hard-earned dinero. Premium content is on the team’s list of things we are working on in this period of rapid blog growth, but we still aren’t there yet. Don’t worry, your investment is still helping us get this vision airborne. If you too are eager beaver to get signed up, feel free to sign up here. SO MUCH THANK YOU in advance, if you choose to sign up!