We often look at the world’s most persistent societal challenges—poverty, systemic inefficiency, and pollution—and ask ourselves: If our legislative systems are designed to solve these problems, why do they continue to persist?
In our latest podcast episode, we are joined by David Schrunk, President of the Science of Laws Institute, who argues that while we use rigorous, data-driven systems engineering standards (like ISO 15288) to ensure the safety and efficacy of everything from medical devices to aerospace technology, most countries apply almost none of that same rigor to the regulations that govern people’s daily lives.
In this episode, we dive into:
- The Global Shift: David shares inspiring examples of how other nations are already beginning to bridge this gap. We discuss Japan’s “Agile Governance” framework, which emphasizes feedback loops and data-driven policymaking , and his own firsthand experiences in Mongolia, where they are experimenting with objective measures and systematic follow-up evaluations for new legislation.
- The Problem Definition Gap: Why most legislative processes begin with a “solution” without ever formally defining the problem.
- The Feedback Loop: How adopting continuous quality assurance could transform laws from static text into living systems that actually serve their purpose.
Whether you are passionate about public policy or simply interested in how systems thinking can be applied to the system of systems that is society, this conversation is one you won’t want to miss.