Some Reflections on Policy and Academics

[ 31 ] Some Reflections on Policy and Academics Ezra F. Vogel Over thirty years into my career as an academic scholar, I had the opportunity in the early 1990s to serve as a National Intelligence Officer for East Asia. Of the many insights I garnered during my two years of service in Washington, D.C., I was particularly struck by the differences between how academics and policymakers operate. The Demanding Environment of Policymaking Most immediately obvious to me was how busy policymakers are—political appointees, who care deeply about their boss’s next election, are especially harried. Policymakers are under the constant pressure of messages that must be answered, reports that must be written by the end of the day, meetings that must be cancelled for another meeting called by a higher-up, unreasonable demands by important superiors, colleagues who must be informed of new inside decisions, and upcoming deadlines for drafting someone’s speech. During the small window of opportunity these busy policymakers have to read, they have no choice but to look at one-page summaries rather than longer , more in-depth arguments. In conversation, they have no choice but to demand a quick answer in lieu of a thorough explanation. Moreover, policymakers must accept the policy framework in which they work, exclude ideas that do not fit into the framework, and avoid spending time on less relevant information. The careers of many policymakers and political appointees depend upon their bosses getting re-elected, which necessitates time spent on helping to keep that person popular. Policymakers adopt various strategies—such as selecting personnel, garnering a consensus for a document, making a persuasive presentation, and bringing along dissenters—that are familiar to seasoned academics. Some games, however—such as how to control access to some important high official , how to appeal to Congress, and how to put a positive public spin on an issue—are beyond the ordinary experience of those of us cloistered in the Ezra F. Vogel, Henry Ford II Research Professor in the Social Sciences at Harvard University, has over forty years of teaching and research experience in academia. His research has focused primarily on Chinese and Japanese society, industrial development, and, more recently, Asian international relations. He has served as director of Harvard’s U.S.-Japan Program, Fairbank Center, and Asia Center. During 1993–95 he served as National Intelligence Officer for East Asia in Washington, D.C. Author of many books and studies on Japan, China, and East Asia, in 1996 he directed the American Assembly on China and in 2000 co-headed the Asia Foundation task force on Asia Policy. bridging the gap • roundtable [ 32 ] asia policy university. In the world of the policymaker, the question of who created which idea is not relevant. The source of ideas is not footnoted. It is better to have a higher official identified with an idea that an underling may have thought up. At the same time, however, many of these policymakers are bright in their own way, and clever and thoughtful about the issues with which they wrestle. The Luxury of Academia By contrast, we academics who have passed the tenure hurdle have remarkable freedom to work on problems that interest us. We can set our own timetable for completion of a research topic, and can often even extend deadlines . We have our own standards for what constitutes new knowledge, what approaches should be deemed creative, which ideas are more valuable than others, and who should receive attribution for a creative contribution. We want to discern the truth, and not merely work toward what is politically expedient . We have much more time to gather what information we think is relevant and bring this information together in ways that shed new light on an issue—or at a minimum meets the standards of our academic colleagues. We also enjoy the luxury of being able to work for many years on problems of particular interest to us, whereas policymakers in Washington must concentrate only on their latest assignment. We academics who go to Washington, D.C., like everyone else there, possess instincts that draw upon our years of experience, intellectual perspectives , and knowledge. This influences how we...