Policy making, the method by which governments make decisions about how you can take care of societal problems, is influenced by quite a lot of aspects, including the political climate, socioeconomic conditions, and cultural and historical backgrounds.
Some aspects are obvious, others are usually not. Policy is commonly made collectively by groups – advocates, residents, lobbyists, legislators.
It is rarer for a single person to prove to be a key figure in shaping recent policy.
One of those people is Erin Merryna mother and social employee from the Chicago suburbs who suffered abuse as a baby. Her efforts as an adult eventually led to 38 states passing laws that Erin's Law which goals to forestall child abuse by educating children in schools.
As scholars who study how public policy is made and implemented, we desired to answer questions raised by the adoption of this recent policy in light of 1 woman's involvement. Why did some states adopt Erin's Law while others didn’t? How do different state legislatures reply to interactions with what Public policy scientist call a “Politics Entrepreneur“ like Erin Merryn?
Laws were reactive
Erin’s Law broadly requires the implementation of prevention courses on child sexual abuse and exploitation for college students in kindergarten through eighth grade, New York State law, for instance, requires.
Child abuse within the United States became a serious public problem after the publication of “The abused child syndrome” in 1962. The book increased social awareness of kid abuse and stressed the crucial role that social staff, doctors and educators play in identifying and protecting children in danger.
Until Erin's Law was passed, nonetheless, there have been few meaningful actions on the state level to deal with the issue. Before Erin's Law, the legislative response was largely limited to mandatory reporting of kid abuse after it had occurred, which did little to forestall or detect abuse.
Erin's Law was different. It aimed to forestall abuse through education before it happens. It is a proactive approach, somewhat than a reactive one which focuses on abuse that has likely already occurred.
To explain how the policy is being adopted by the federal government, Political scientist John W. Kingdon emphasized the central role of policy entrepreneurs like Merryn in pushing for an answer or drawing attention to specific policy problems. Kingdon wrote in 1984: Policy entrepreneurs are “advocates who are willing to invest their resources – time, energy, reputation, money – to represent a position and expect in return future gains in the form of material, charitable or solidarity benefits.”
Politics Entrepreneur act as catalysts to shape recent policy by introducing recent ideas, attracting media attention, constructing networks with lawmakers, and providing them with necessary information and perspectives. They persist of their efforts even after they face initial resistance.
Erin's Journey
In her book she describes: “An unimaginable act” was published in 2013. Merryn was sexually abused on the age of 6 and suffered ongoing abuse into her teens. This horrific experience encouraged Merryn to change into a social employee.
After earning a master's degree in social work, writing several books about her experiences, and devoting years to social work, Merryn felt compelled to hunt broader and more systematic change through national laws.
She quit her job as a social employee and started visiting state legislatures and publicly advocating for political change across the United States. Between 2011 and 2018, Merryn visited 36 states and gave a complete of 111 speeches to legislatures.
The first state where Merryn tried to implement the brand new policy was her home state of Illinois. where they joined with Republican state representative, Senator Tim Bivins. After 4 months of intensive research, they accomplished the primary draft of Erin's Law.
In November 2010, Merryn was invited to the Illinois State Capitol where she gave a transient statement in regards to the need for the law. Her testimony paved the way in which for the passage of the policy, and on February 14, 2011 Governor Pat Quinn signed Erin’s Law.
Typically, policies are passed when state legislators meet in regular sessions and debate the measures in committees. Faced with a deluge of data provided by their staff, lobbyists or their constituents – often all three – it will probably be extremely difficult for the general public to get the eye of state legislators. However, Merryn managed to get the eye and consideration of the legislators through the use of a compelling story and fervour – and, in fact, a bit luck.
Typically, Merryn's visits got here after she emailed legislators explaining Erin's Law, often followed by an invite from legislators for her to testify before legislative committees.
However, the trigger for these invitations to testify was also different.
Merryn's testimony in Michigan arose from a conversation with a senator's aide at a family wedding. In New York, as Erin's Law stalled within the legislature, a phone call from actress Julianna Margulies to Mayor Mike Bloomberg led to Merryn Time with the state parliamentariansWe imagine Bloomberg's endorsement gave Merryn the political traction she needed to get the eye of state lawmakers. And in Pennsylvania, her testimony got here at a time when the legislature was still Jerry Sandusky scandalthrough which a longtime Penn State assistant coach was charged and located guilty of sexually abusing children.
Merryn faced many obstacles along the way in which, but her persistence played a crucial role within the widespread adoption of Erin’s Law. Her recognition as 2012 Glamour Magazine “Woman of the Year” Their visibility and impact have been further increased through their continued advocacy.
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Political entrepreneurs achieve results
In our researchWe found that state parliaments which can be often visited by political entrepreneurs usually tend to adopt recent policies and accomplish that more quickly than state parliaments which can be less or in no way visited by such people.
Merryn's visits, interactions and lectures not only provided MPs and deputies with recent information, but in addition presented the difficulty in a more politically acceptable way. Erin's Law was presented as a protective, preventative and empowering approach for youngsters, not a reactive one.
The influence of political entrepreneurs relies on how well the difficulty they’re advocating for aligns with the state's political landscape. Merryn's involvement had a greater likelihood of helping to get laws passed more liberal states than conservativeIn liberal states, more resources are spent on Education, health and public safetyand stopping child victimisation is a policy priority.
Where policy entrepreneurs and legislators agree, they form a symbiotic relationship and support one another in achieving their goals. The acceptance of policy measures for policy entrepreneurs and the likely increase in popularity for legislators can translate into electoral gains.
Whether a policy entrepreneur can succeed and get a policy through the legislature relies on the kind of problem they’re addressing. Erin's Law was implemented more quickly in states fighting serious child abuse problems, reflected in the rise in incidents, reports and investigations.
It was also adopted more quickly in states with more female legislators. Women in legislatures are known to put greater emphasis on what’s also known as “Women's issues”, including the needs of youngsters and families, domestic violence and social assistance.
In states where Erin's Law has not yet been enacted, ongoing efforts to pass the law, including media engagement, lobbying, petitions and testimony, are sometimes led by Erin Merryn herself, together with legislators and child welfare organizations.
image credit : theconversation.com