Learning From Comparative Public Policy

Step 3

Where to look for lessons

Humani nil a me alienum puto.(Nothing that concerns man is alien to me.)

Terence, c. 160 BC

The only condition limiting where to look for lessons is the existence of a common problem. When national policymakers are confronted by a problem that is new to them, this does not mean it is unprecedented; it may simply indicate they are the last to become aware of what is already familiar elsewhere. For example, race relations was not regarded as a problem in Britain until the 1960s, because the country was previously almost 100 per cent white. The arrival of immigrants from the West Indies and the Indian subcontinent changed that. Before responding with legislation, British policymakers looked to the United States ...