Policy changes—additions, amendments, or creation of new policies—are an inevitable and essential part of our ever-evolving society. They reflect shifting societal values and expectations, as well as the changing capacities and priorities of public and private sector actors. Economic shifts (slump, boom, and international trade) heavily influence policy choices, as do changes in leadership and ideology. Policy changes can also be driven by emerging research and insights that highlight issues or offer novel solutions to long-standing problems.
Interest groups and advocacy organizations play a vital role in both facilitating and obstructing policy change, by lobbying government officials, conducting research, and running awareness campaigns. They can be especially effective when their concerns are at a critical mass and/or the issue is urgent, but they may struggle to promote policy reforms when political climates become more conservative.
Grass roots community initiatives, concerned professional groups, and determined individuals can also be powerful agents of policy change—but their efforts are most successful when they occur at key moments in the policy cycle: agenda-setting, policy formulation, policy adoption, policy implementation, and policy evaluation.
The specific nature of policy changes varies widely across countries, but common themes emerged from our in-depth semi-structured interviews with respondents. For example, infrastructure was a common theme among middle-income country interviewees, with responses such as “more water and infrastructure development” and, from one South African respondent: “a better democracy through improved infrastructure and better communication.” Policy changes can also be driven by the need to keep up with legal updates or by external factors like changing economic conditions, new laws, or internal needs for risk management or increased efficiency or employee satisfaction.
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