PASS THE TORCH PUBLIC POLICY ESSAY CONTEST

What is public policy? Those who study public policy analyze social, economic, and political factors to make ethical policy decisions. Public policy combines a wide range of subjects: mathematics, statistics, econometrics, psychology, neuroscience, and the humanities. Please   refer to “publicpolicy.stanford.edu” for a helpful and detailed explanation of public policy.

In an essay of no more than 1200 words, identify a problem in your community and develop an original policy solution to address it. A successful essay will address a specific issue that is unique to the participant’s community, whether the community be a neighborhood, a city, a state, etc. The essay should include why the issue needs to be addressed and what benefits, both in the short and long run, will arise from the solution. The policy solution must be backed by data, evidence, and facts to support why it is necessary and/or feasible. 

Some examples:*

• You find that River ABC in your town is heavily polluted. Using the data from your local government, you conclude that cleaning the river will cost $14,000, too much for your local government. You suggest the policy solution that those who get speeding tickets can waive their fees if they opt in to spend an hour cleaning the river. Using the data from your town’s Department of Transportation, you project that the river can be fully cleaned within one year even if only 10% of those who get parking tickets opt in to this program. The money that would have been made from the parking tickets was only $800, vastly outweighing the $14,000 saved. The clean river will boost foot traffic to the bordering park, which will increase revenue of local businesses and street vendors. 

• Your state announced that they are cutting the arts program from public elementary schools because the state legislators want to redirect its funding towards a more robust math program. Because the American Psychological Association says that art can develop creativity and intellectual ability in young children in the long run, you argue that keeping the arts program will be crucial in the students’ academic success. In order to convince your state legislature, you come up with a policy solution where students who take art classes in local high schools can lead art workshops after school. The high school students will be volunteers, so the state won’t have to pay for professional art teachers. The state would only have to pay for the materials, which costs $120,000 per year, considerably lower than the $2.3 million per year for the previous program. The high school volunteers in return will receive volunteer hour credit for their help, and their own artistic endeavors will be honored by being featured around the state Capitol building. Through this policy solution, the high schoolers will be able to develop leadership skills as well as have their artwork displayed, the elementary school students will continue to have an arts program, and the state will be able to fund the program for a fraction of the cost. 

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*The facts and figures presented in these examples are not necessarily true. Note that your essays should be much more detailed and precise than these examples. These examples are meant to show what kind of policy solutions might be applicable to this contest.