Mini-policy paper on gender-fair business environment

INTRODUCTION
Discuss the social issue being studied on. Consider the following questions;
 How did the issue originate? What is the historical background of the
issue? Are there critical incidents which emphasize the importance of the
issue?
 Why is this an important issue for society at large and policy makers to
address? Why should citizens be concerned with this issue?
 What philosophical or ethical issues underscore the importance of the
issue?
CURRENT POLICY
The purpose of this section is to analyze current policies (or programs) that deal
with the problem. The questions to address are as follows:
 What aspect of the issue are current policies (or programs) trying to
solve?
 Have these policies solved, alleviated, exacerbated, or had no effect on
the problem? Why or why not?
 What are the limitations of the current policies?
ALTERNATIVE POLICIES
The purpose of this section is to analyze two or three alternative solutions to the
problem. In selecting the alternative solutions, choose alternatives that have
been seriously proposed by advocates or policy makers. You do not have to
analyze every possible alternative, but you should analyze alternatives that have
been or are being seriously considered. Expanding (or modifying) current policies
(or programs) can be treated as one of the alternative solutions. For each
alternative solution, analyze its strengths and weaknesses and discuss which
groups, opinion leaders, or policy makers support or reject it. Ultimately, keep in
mind that you might be rejecting these alternative solutions or using parts of them
for your own policy proposal in the next section of the paper. The questions to
address are as follows:
 What are the alternatives to the current policies?
 What are the strengths and weaknesses of the alternatives?
 Why haven't these alternatives been made into policy? Is there some fatal
flaw inherent in them or in the way that society views them? Is there
another reason why these alternatives haven’t been implemented?
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS, FEASIBILITY & IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
The purpose of this section is to formulate an effective policy proposal for the
problem you are addressing, demonstrate that your proposal is practical and
feasible, and prove that your proposal will work. The questions to address are as
follows:
  What are the specific policy recommendations that you are proposing to
solve the problem? What specific administrative or legal guidelines will
your policy provide?
 How does your policy proposal solve the problem better than current
policy or any of the alternatives? What evidence can you offer that
demonstrates your proposal will be effective? What reasoning and/or
evidence can you provide that demonstrates your proposal is feasible and
workable?
 What legislative body, agency, or other policy-making group will need to
approve your proposal in order for it to be implemented? What agency or
group will be responsible for administering your proposal?
 How might you go about influencing these specific groups so that your
proposal will be adopted? What spokespersons or policy makers might
realistically be interested in supporting your proposal? What evidence can
you provide which indicates these people will be likely to serve as
advocates for your proposal? What other groups might you entice to form
a coalition in support of your proposal? What other implementation
strategies might you use to gain support for your proposal?
 What are the most critical obstacles (financial, legal, ethical, or political)
you anticipate in implementing your policy proposal? How do you plan to
overcome these obstacles? What policy-makers or groups might be
opposed to your proposal? Why would they be opposed to your proposal?
How will you counteract the influence of these policy-makers and groups?
 Are there additional benefits or advantages of your proposal? If your policy
proposal is adopted, how soon might we see results? What changes can
we expect to see right away? Five years from now?
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
This section is the capstone of your policy paper, and, as such,
should briefly summarize the argument you have made. This section
should also include a final persuasive appeal to your reader(s).
REFERENCES