PEOPLE
1. Does it encourage a healthy level of conscientiousness and community? Conscientiousness is the most decisive factor in health and overall happiness and community is an important but distant second. Public policy must reinforce (and avoid eroding) the conscientiousness of individual citizens. It must also encourage the resilient networks which provide support in challenging times. Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
2. Will it work based on the skill sets of the average person implementing the solution? Results will be disappointing if based on a higher or lower than expected capacity on the part of those executing a policy and/ or those receiving the benefits of the policy. If the solution is based on an institution it has a greater chance of success than if based on a specific personality.
3. Is it characterized by optimism? (vs pessimism or resignation) Poor choices can be overcome by determination. Wise choices can be ruined by eroded morale.
4. Does it characterize opponents as misguided rather than demonizing them? This also includes condescending attitudes. A good solution may fail if advanced in a demeaning manner toward opponents or neutral observers. A belief in limited government does not require demeaning public servants writ large. We must reject bad policies, not people. We must embrace only good policy but for the benefit of all.
5. Does it allow for both rights and responsibilities to be held as the lowest level possible? What is the threshold to assume responsibility by any echelon above the individual ? No one wants to be micromanaged in the workplace. Why should we expect that in public policy?
PROCESSES
6. Does it incorporate a model of sustainability? We must not mortgage our children’s future for programs which demand an increase in per capita resources each year. Sustainability is not just environmental but also with respect to personal habits, the economy, the population, and the community.
7. Does it draw from the best ideas in history rather than the latest fads or some tradition? This is the essence of conservative philosophy. It avoids chronological snobbery. We should not be so non-judgmental that we loose our sense of good judgement. We assume that traditions exist for valid reasons but are open to the idea that they can be improved upon.
8. Does it avoid creating other problems when solving the primary issue? The law of unintended consequences has condemned many a plan. Always ask where the underlying principles may be at odds with each other.
PRODUCTS
9. Does the policy assume progress as the movement from one fixed point or standard to another? Modern progressives generally reject the idea of a fixed standard of good and therefore cannot define what progress means. True progressive embrace means of distinguishing progress. To achieve this government must focus on its core competencies and not be distracted by peripheral issues.
10. Does the policy acknowledge the essential character of the “dismal science”? Economics involves hard choices in which there are often relative winners and losers. Any approach that says otherwise is either misguided or a deception.
