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Hello, and welcome to Policy Progress.

You can find a more formal statement of what this site is about and how it works on our About page, but I wanted to start the blog section of the website with a slightly more personal statement.

My name is David Choat. You can read a bit about me here. I set up Policy Progress, and I’m probably the main voice you’re going to hear on these pages for the time being.

(Although that could change if Policy Progress becomes hugely successful and expands massively…)

(And there will be guest posts!! Watch this space.)

I started Policy Progress because I believe that a clear programme of how we are going to advance as a nation, both economically and socially, is vital for the progressive movement. That programme, in turn, needs to be underpinned by strong theoretical foundations.

This may not necessarily be the most important thing for electoral success (though it can’t hurt), but I believe that it is fundamental to governing effectively and successfully after that success has been achieved.

I’m not saying there’s a vacuum here at present. Nevertheless, this is an area that always requires ongoing refinement, development and renewal.

Moreover, we’re currently living in turbulent times. Many of the underpinning theories that have dominated policy thinking across the world for the last thirty years are being seriously questioned – particularly in the economic sphere. And the challenge of climate change may require even more fundamental rethinking.

I predict that this will a fertile time for progressive thought. Part of what I aim to do with Policy Progress is to contribute to introducing and adapting these ideas to the New Zealand environment.

Alongside this, of course, the Policy Progress site will also stay abreast of high-quality domestic analysis focused on New Zealand’s specific problems and challenges. It will highlight worthwhile proposals and aim to help refine those, along with my own ideas and solutions.

Tags: progressive thinking

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 6:51 am and is filed under Overview. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.