Wonks, Talking Heads and Social Innovation

When I was working in DC there was often a divide between my friends that worked in governance and policy, and my friends that who worked on campaigns.  My wonkier friends in governance and policy would voice frustration about how talking points diluted the understanding of policy issues and the projects they were working on.  Alternatively, my friends who worked on campaigns continued to hone their communication strategies, always trying to reach new audiences with practiced phrases that could distil nuanced ideas for general consumption.

 As someone who has worked in both fields, I’ve grown to appreciate that they have to work together.  Policy needs political support to be implemented and political dialogue strengthens policy by connecting policy makers to the people they are affecting and the mechanisms that help implement effective programs.  Michelle Malkin’s piece on the Obama administration’s Social Innovation Fund is a reminder of how a political interpretation can affect a policy decision and the public perception of it.

Malkin describes White House investment in social innovation as “a permanent taxpayer-backed pipeline to Democratic partisan outfits masquerading as public-interest do-gooders.”  While I believe most people would agree the end goal of a program should be it’s most defining feature, it is understandable that the methods, leadership, and affiliation of an organization will impact the perception of it.  However, Maklin displays a distrust of accountability measures from the Obama administration, making virtually all funding from the administration skeptical, including the Pay for Success financing model. 

It is clear that the White House is working to shape the political perception of the President Obama’s policy agenda for social innovation, including a well placed article in the New York Times that was co-written by the director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation at the White House.  But as government continues to explore innovation as a means of combating social issues, the political fight may only get more pronounced. Despite recent bipartisan support for Social Impact Bonds I wonder if there will be a partisan divide in future government efforts to fund social innovation.