1. Introduction

Teaching Students to Write for “Real Life”: Policy Paper Writing in the Classroom

“…Second, they see the theories covered in the course play out in practice. Third, they acquire practical skills of policy writing as well as an appreciation of the collaborative-writing process (Janssen and van der Mast 2001). This article introduces the simulation of the writing process, as well as the surrounding negotiations, of a government-wide strategy paper on policy toward the emerging countries.…”

“…Additionally, the more agencies or departments are involved, the more complex the process becomes. Not only do the agencies have to negotiate a common position that will inform the content of the policy paper, but they also face the challenge of a collaborative writing process among potentially noncooperative actors (Janssen and van der Mast 2001). Therefore, policy strategy papers are an ideal basis for teaching students about both processes of bargaining and negotiation as well as writing for the policy process.…”

“…The fundamentals of national foreign policyEmerging powers in the global context (Stewart 2010; Castañeda 2010) 4 Writing for the policy process (Dulek 1991; Janssen and Neutelings 2001)The bureaucratic process of policy paper writing in GermanyForeign policy analysis (FPA) (Hudson 2005)Bargaining theory (Muthoo 2000) and negotiation analysis (Sebenius 1992)The Organizational Process and Bureaucratic Politics Models (Welch 1992)Interaction of bureaucracy and politics in foreign policy (Aberbach, Mezger, and Rockman 1991). …”

Flowcharts, Swimlanes, and Timelines

“…For instance, research conducted in the United Kingdom on how to best present legislation to its users (Bertlin, 2014) reveals that even experienced lawyers can struggle to understand it (p. 47). Scholars have identified some recurrent problems in government-published documents, such as excessive document length due to years of amendments and additions; undifferentiated layouts and structures (Waller, 2011, p. 2), often reminiscent of texts created with a typewriter; and the use of bureaucratic language that is distant and unfriendly (Schriver, 2015, p. 177), highly technical (Waller, 2015, p. 1), impersonal, and complex (F. Jansen, 2001).…”

“…Even research on government-published documents has ignored, with few exceptions (e.g., Berman, 2000; C. Jansen & Steehouder, 1984), the possibilities of diagrammatic representation and explanation, focusing instead on layouts and formats for fully textual genres such as legislation (Rogers, 2015; Waller, 2015), government letters (Renkema, 2001; Waller & Waller, 2015), or forms (e.g., C. Jansen & Steehouder, 2001; Schriver, 2015).…”