Policy Change Strategies - Blunt Force & Joining Forces

Policy Change Strategies: Blunt Force & Joining Forces

Leaders, both elected and appointed, followed varied paths to securing the proposals they championed, sometimes accommodating competing interests and sometimes overcoming opposition by blunt force. But perhaps most often, the leaders persuaded the potential opposition to join the forces of reform. Indeed, if there is a single conclusion to come from this study of successful reforms, it is that leaders must find and use windows of opportunities to promote policy change. But how they make use of those windows of opportunity varies markedly.

Which option of overcoming opposition to a proposed policy, blunt force or joining forces, do you think is best to use? Why or why not? Is timing a factor in your decision? Why or why not?