The Maxwell School
Syracuse University

Peter J Wilcoxen

How to Write a Policy Memo

Materials from the July 2018 Maxwell Colloquium.

Presentation

Presentation file: The Powerpoint part of the presentation as a PDF.

Policy Scenario

Alphaville Ride Sharing Proposal: Description of the proposed policy.
Alphaville Survey and Betatown Experience: Data available.
Impacts of the Alphaville Ride Sharing Tax Proposal: Excel spreadsheet used for the analysis
Impacts of the Alphaville Ride Sharing Tax Proposal: PDF of a spreadsheet analyzing the policy.

Building the Memo

Sketch of Finished Memo: A PDF showing headings and content for each section in the memo.

Detailed Suggestions

Tips on Writing a Policy Memo: There's no single formula for writing an effective policy memo because every policy is different. However, here are a few guidelines that may help.
More Tips on Writing a Policy Memo: Here are a few additional Do's and Don'ts about writing policy memos.

Books

Strunk, William and E.B. White, The Elements of Style: Almost 100 years old but still a concise source of excellent advice.
Smith, Catherine F, Writing Public Policy: More recent and focused on public policy.

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Peter J Wilcoxen, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University
Revised 07/03/2018