IN FOCUS: What happens when people figure out a policy doesn't make sense to them? |
A couple weeks ago, I published a column about a conversation with a reader who rejected widely available, widely accepted data. Much of the feedback focused on that dynamic (and rightly so). But some readers pointed out a different, equally common problem: The way policymakers and “the political class” sometimes respond to criticism by assuming the public “just doesn’t understand.” Lived experience doesn’t override facts or data. But policy doesn’t exist in a vacuum, either. Every idea still has to pass through the reality people experience every day. This piece is about that side of the disconnect and why ignoring it comes at a cost.
Once again I say … we have the chance to do things differently!
Every year begins the same way for people in charge of local government. The campaigning ends. The slogans fade. The signs come down. And the work of governing — the unglamorous, complicated part — takes center stage.
That transition matters. Because while elections come and go, the obligation to explain what you’re doing and why never does.
This is where a familiar mindset creeps in.
It’s not loud. It doesn’t show up in speeches. But you hear it when a policy stalls, when a public meeting turns sour, or when a proposal collapses under scrutiny.
“Well, they just don’t get........