4.3 Policy and issue questions
Policy and issue questions are ones where the learner is looking for the views, insights or overview of the actions a politician has taken around a particular policy or issue.
When people are asked to come up with questions for a politician, they will often try to think of policy and issue questions first.
In this section, we’re going to give you some tips to share with your learners on how to craft questions about policies and issues.
Top tip 1 – Be specific
If a question is too vague or covers a lot of issues then a politician will either end up giving a very broad, unclear answer, or they can just answer the part they want to.
Here’s an example. A learner wants to find out what the politician thinks about climate change, and how serious they take it.
They ask ‘What do you think about climate change?’
A question so broad means the politician could answer that in dozens of different ways:
- They could talk about what the Welsh Government needs to do, or the UK Government.
- They could talk about international efforts.
- They could discuss the things individuals need to do.
- They could talk about the debate around how to achieve Net Zero.
- They could give their views on how to encourage renewable energy.
Learners are better off being specific and choosing one element of this larger issue.
A more specific version of this question could be ‘Do you think it should be the priority of the Welsh Government to achieve Net Zero?’
Top tip 2 – Link the question to the politician
Encourage learners to link their questions to the politician’s life, experience or interests if possible. Doing this not only leads to a more unique answer, drawing on the politician’s particular perspective on an issue, it helps to engage the politician - it really shows the learner has really done their research!
Here’s some examples of questions that draw on politician’s life:
“We notice you often promote the use of the Welsh language. Do you agree it would be a good idea to fund more Welsh language media?”
“From our research we see that you sit on the Council Finance Committee. Can you tell us where the annual Council budget comes from?”
“On your website you have stated that ‘Labour has pushed local councils into existential crisis’. If your party was put into power what would you do about such issues and end this ‘existential crisis’?”
Top tip 3 – Encourage unique questions
Encourage learners to draw upon issues that are in the news right now, or focus on local issues or things that are affecting the school. Try to make the question unique - you are less likely to get “stock” answers if the question is designed for that session.
Here’s some examples we’ve had in our Dialogue sessions:
“We are currently facing a problem with our year 5 and 6 toilets. Where could we get help and possible funding?”
“The buying and selling of vapes is a particular cause of concern in our community and pupils as young as 11 are managing to get their hands on them. What do you believe should be done to tackle this anti-social behaviour and how can we stop ‘vaping’ from being seen as ‘cool’ or attractive?”
“What are your thoughts on Cymdeithas Yr Iaith’s recent proposal to standardise the Welsh language GCSE?”
