Learning by proxy: How burdensome policies shape policy implementors' views of government

Abstract

Although the literature on political learning has examined the effect of policy on clients and some proximate individuals (family, friends, and community members), it has not examined the effect on professionals who implement programs. What lessons do professionals learn from implementing nominally positive (care) services for negatively constructed populations, and how do they learn them? Drawing on interviews, focus groups, and participant observation in substance‐use disorder services, we demonstrate that policy implementors learn lessons at odds with their advantaged status by proxy, witnessing how government treats clients, experiencing a system designed for negatively constructed, powerless populations, and sometimes the two together. As a result, the effect of policy may be greater than previously demonstrated.