If you want policy and legal change, it will take time.
It is going to take a lot longer than you expect.
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It took William Wilberforce 20 years to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire.
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It took Nelson Mandela around 30 years in his campaign to abolish apartheid. The campaign had been going on a lot longer.
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It took 76 years to end slavery in the USA.
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I sat in a summer school in Florence in 1995 to learn about an idea that made it to the ETS in 2005. This tapped into pollution markets in the USA, which had been going on for a long time.
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The Heritage Foundation was created in 1973. Project 2025 was published in 2023.
20 years
If you want to incorporate an idea that does not exist in the mainstream policy/political agenda into law, it will take time.
As a rule of thumb, it usually takes twenty years. Ten years is fast. A crisis/disaster can speed things up.
I take this from my work on fisheries, air pollution, waste laws, and substance regulation. From the first serious consideration to a law being published, the Statute book will take 20 years.
I checked my numbers with someone who likely has one of the most successful track records of getting issues added to the EU law. 10-20 years was their range, with 20 being the norm.
How to get your idea taken up
The question is, how do you get your idea into law? You’ll need:
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Patience. You’ll need to wait for the right opportunity or policy cycle to allow you to step in.
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Persistence. You are going to get knocked down a lot.
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Resources. Getting your idea taken up takes time, skills, and money.
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The evidence to support your case.
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A set of clear solutions that the public, media, policymakers and politicians can understand.
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A draft law is sitting in your filing cabinet.
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Be active in the policy circuit to promote your agenda.
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Finding support in the policy-making elite.
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Finding a political sponsor to table your idea and solution, e.g., an official, politician or think-tank.
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Cross-Party champions.
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Sponsors. You’ll need the financial backing to help you over the next 10-20 years.
Skills you need access to
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Know how the policymaking system works. If you don’t, your important issue goes nowhere.
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The skills to engineer a public policy debate.
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The skills to paint the picture of a better future with your solution.
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Make something abstract become clear and tangible.
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Have the right people on your team at different times to get your ideas taken into law.
Health Warning
It helps to realise that the odds are against you from the start.
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Most people you’ll meet will have no interest in your issue. They won’t understand what you are talking about. They’ll think you are weird and obsessive.
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Your friends and allies will likely oppose you. Most people don’t like change. They are happy with the status quo. Better the devil, you know.
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Most people don’t have a long-term time horizon. They want change in 3 months.
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Some potential backers will only commit if there is a 100% chance of success. No such guarantee can ever be given.
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You’ll need a political entrepreneur to shepherd your idea through and onto the statute book. These people are unicorns.
And, once you get the law onto the statute book, you’ll need another 10 years of work to ensure it is implemented and not backtracked.