[Lnc-business] Developing and approving new and revised literature

[James Lark]

Dear colleagues:

     I hope all is well with you.  In a previous message I suggested the 
consideration of various goals for the LNC during the 2018-2020 term.  
In particular, I suggested that we consider adopting the following goal:

G4: The LNC will develop and approve new and revised outreach 
literature, to be available no later than Dec. 31, 2018. Some of the 
literature (e.g., issue pamphlets) should be available in the form of 
PDFs that can be downloaded from LP.org.

     I believe the LNC should pursue this goal as part of a more general 
process of literature development and evaluation. Specifically, I 
believe we should institute an ongoing process that will accomplish the 
following tasks:


1)  Evaluate our current literature needs

     As part of this evaluation, we should address various questions, 
including the following:

*  Do we need new literature?  If so, what type of literature? Types of 
literature include:

(a)  Material focused upon a very narrow issue, such as the problems 
with the National Defense Authorization Act.

(b)  Material dealing with several issues bundled under a general topic 
heading, such as national defense, civil liberties, economic liberties, 
etc.  (A special case of this type involves literature that targets 
specific demographic groups.)

(c)  A general description of the Libertarian Party and a brief overview 
of our positions on several topics.

(d)  Material that can be readily adapted by our candidates (i.e., 
literature templates which our candidates can tailor to their specific 
needs).

(e)  "Inreach literature," which is designed to assist LP members in 
learning about the libertarian perspective, and to help our members 
become better advocates of liberty.

(f)  Material that is written in languages other than English 
(especially Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, and Mandarin/Cantonese)

*  Is it sufficient for the LP to produce a PDF of the literature that 
can be downloaded?  Should the LP arrange to have the literature printed 
in bulk in addition to making a PDF available for download?  (I suspect 
this will depend upon the particular piece of literature.)

Note:  As part of our consideration, we may wish to discuss the 
preparation of signs that can be used at rallies, protests, information 
tables, etc.  Such signs could be available for download (in the 
appropriate format) from LP.org.


2)  Develop our literature

     After ascertaining our literature needs, we must do the following:

*  Determine whether what we need is already available (perhaps in the 
form of something that can be readily adapted to our needs).  To assist 
in this determination (an ongoing process), I suggest that we build a 
repository of LP and "LP-friendly" literature.  We should request that 
all LP-affiliated organizations (as well as some "friend of the family 
organizations") send electronic copies of their literature (or perhaps 
links to such electronic copies) to LPHQ.

*  If what we need is not already available, determine who will design 
the literature and authorize those chosen to prepare and submit their 
designs.  Note:  I believe we should establish a process in which we 
routinely solicit literature designs from our members and "friends of 
the family."  In some cases, we may wish to establish competitions and 
prizes to encourage participation and reward excellence.

*  Determine and implement the means by which material under 
consideration will be "test-marketed" prior to selecting the literature 
to produce.

*  Determine the best designs and submit them for review to the 
Advertising and Publication Review Committee (APRC).

*  Produce the literature and make it available.  (As part of this 
process, we should consider the pricing of our literature.)


3)  Evaluate the effectiveness of our literature

     To the extent possible, we should seek to evaluate whether our 
literature is serving the purpose for which it was developed.  Thus, we 
should design mechanisms to do the following:

(a)  Solicit and receive feedback about our literature from those who 
are distributing our literature and those who are reading our literature.

(b)  Solicit and receive feedback about our literature from selected 
target populations.

(c)  Evaluate the feedback and develop recommendations concerning our 
literature.


4)  Evaluate our future literature needs

    Perhaps it would be appropriate for the LNC to reconstitute the 
Outreach Committee for the purpose of overseeing the literature 
development and evaluation process, with the understanding that the LNC 
will make the final choices concerning what literature to produce.  
Presumably the literature development and evaluation process will be 
guided by the goals and strategies the LNC adopts.

     In considering the more narrow issue of what new and revised 
literature we should produce prior to Dec. 31, 2018, allow me to offer 
the following comments and suggestions:

     As we proceed, we should determine what we really need in terms of 
a pamphlet.  That is, perhaps what we really need is to develop an 
extensive series of issue papers for LP.org.  We would also develop 
associated pamphlets/flyers that provide basic info about a given issue 
and direct the reader to LP.org for more detailed information.

     By "issue paper" I do not mean a long, scholarly treatise along the 
lines of an academic journal article or a Cato Policy Analysis. Rather, 
I mean a reasonably short article that lays out the LP position and (if 
appropriate) contains relevant graphics and photographs to illustrate 
the main points of the article.  If possible, the issue paper would be 
linked to an assortment of scholarly articles to assist those interested 
in pursuing the matter in depth.

     If we choose to develop pamphlets that are more detailed than the 
"basic info + point the reader to LP.org" model mentioned above, it may 
be best to proceed by developing an extensive issue paper about a topic 
and designing a pamphlet based upon that issue paper. I suggest this 
because the marginal cost of designing a pamphlet based upon an 
extensive issue paper may be relatively small.

     Based upon my seat-of-the-pants empirical analysis, I believe we 
should consider producing pamphlets on the following topics (listed in 
no particular order):

*  Government involvement in health care and insurance markets
*  American foreign policy (in particular, the various conflicts in 
which we are currently (or were recently) engaged)
*  Immigration/emigration issues
*  Government efforts to eviscerate Fourth Amendment rights
*  Police and prosecutorial misconduct (perhaps in the context of a 
discussion of the doctrine of qualified immunity for government officials)
*  The massive amount of federal government spending
*  Efforts by governments to prevent people from monitoring the behavior 
of government officials (especially efforts to criminalize videotaping 
the conduct of police officers)
*  The extraordinary costs of Drug Prohibition, along with the 
increasing militarization of police
*  "Crony Capitalism"
*  Eminent domain abuses
*  "Food freedom" issues

     Some additional topics we should consider include the war on gaming 
(especially online gambling), government involvement with marriage, 
increasing efforts to regulate the Internet and tax Internet commerce, 
and government destruction of jobs via licensing laws.  Unfortunately, 
there is a depressingly long list of topics about which we can prepare 
literature.

     As always, thanks for your work for liberty, and for your 
consideration of my comments and suggestions.  I hope these comments and 
suggestions are helpful to you.

     Take care,
     Jim

     James W. Lark, III
     Professor, Dept. of Systems and Information Engineering
     Professor, Applied Mathematics Program, Dept. of Engineering and 
Society
     Affiliated Faculty, Dept. of Statistics
     University of Virginia

     Advisor, The Liberty Coalition
     University of Virginia

     Region 5 Representative, Libertarian National Committee
-------------- next part --------------
   Dear colleagues:
       I hope all is well with you.  In a previous message I suggested the
   consideration of various goals for the LNC during the 2018-2020 term.
   In particular, I suggested that we consider adopting the following
   goal:
   G4: The LNC will develop and approve new and revised outreach
   literature, to be available no later than Dec. 31, 2018.  Some of the
   literature (e.g., issue pamphlets) should be available in the form of
   PDFs that can be downloaded from LP.org.
       I believe the LNC should pursue this goal as part of a more general
   process of literature development and evaluation.  Specifically, I
   believe we should institute an ongoing process that will accomplish the
   following tasks:
   1)  Evaluate our current literature needs
       As part of this evaluation, we should address various questions,
   including the following:
   *  Do we need new literature?  If so, what type of literature?  Types
   of literature include:
   (a)  Material focused upon a very narrow issue, such as the problems
   with the National Defense Authorization Act.
   (b)  Material dealing with several issues bundled under a general topic
   heading, such as national defense, civil liberties, economic liberties,
   etc.  (A special case of this type involves literature that targets
   specific demographic groups.)
   (c)  A general description of the Libertarian Party and a brief
   overview of our positions on several topics.
   (d)  Material that can be readily adapted by our candidates (i.e.,
   literature templates which our candidates can tailor to their specific
   needs).
   (e)  "Inreach literature," which is designed to assist LP members in
   learning about the libertarian perspective, and to help our members
   become better advocates of liberty.
   (f)  Material that is written in languages other than English
   (especially Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, and Mandarin/Cantonese)
   *  Is it sufficient for the LP to produce a PDF of the literature that
   can be downloaded?  Should the LP arrange to have the literature
   printed in bulk in addition to making a PDF available for download?  (I
   suspect this will depend upon the particular piece of literature.)
   Note:  As part of our consideration, we may wish to discuss the
   preparation of signs that can be used at rallies, protests, information
   tables, etc.  Such signs could be available for download (in the
   appropriate format) from LP.org.
   2)  Develop our literature
       After ascertaining our literature needs, we must do the following:
   *  Determine whether what we need is already available (perhaps in the
   form of something that can be readily adapted to our needs).  To assist
   in this determination (an ongoing process), I suggest that we build a
   repository of LP and "LP-friendly" literature.  We should request that
   all LP-affiliated organizations (as well as some "friend of the family
   organizations") send electronic copies of their literature (or perhaps
   links to such electronic copies) to LPHQ.
   *  If what we need is not already available, determine who will design
   the literature and authorize those chosen to prepare and submit their
   designs.  Note:  I believe we should establish a process in which we
   routinely solicit literature designs from our members and "friends of
   the family."  In some cases, we may wish to establish competitions and
   prizes to encourage participation and reward excellence.
   *  Determine and implement the means by which material under
   consideration will be "test-marketed" prior to selecting the literature
   to produce.
   *  Determine the best designs and submit them for review to the
   Advertising and Publication Review Committee (APRC).
   *  Produce the literature and make it available.  (As part of this
   process, we should consider the pricing of our literature.)
   3)  Evaluate the effectiveness of our literature
       To the extent possible, we should seek to evaluate whether our
   literature is serving the purpose for which it was developed.  Thus, we
   should design mechanisms to do the following:
   (a)  Solicit and receive feedback about our literature from those who
   are distributing our literature and those who are reading our
   literature.
   (b)  Solicit and receive feedback about our literature from selected
   target populations.
   (c)  Evaluate the feedback and develop recommendations concerning our
   literature.
   4)  Evaluate our future literature needs
      Perhaps it would be appropriate for the LNC to reconstitute the
   Outreach Committee for the purpose of overseeing the literature
   development and evaluation process, with the understanding that the LNC
   will make the final choices concerning what literature to produce.
   Presumably the literature development and evaluation process will be
   guided by the goals and strategies the LNC adopts.
       In considering the more narrow issue of what new and revised
   literature we should produce prior to Dec. 31, 2018, allow me to offer
   the following comments and suggestions:
       As we proceed, we should determine what we really need in terms of
   a pamphlet.  That is, perhaps what we really need is to develop an
   extensive series of issue papers for LP.org.  We would also develop
   associated pamphlets/flyers that provide basic info about a given issue
   and direct the reader to LP.org for more detailed information.
       By "issue paper" I do not mean a long, scholarly treatise along the
   lines of an academic journal article or a Cato Policy Analysis. Rather,
   I mean a reasonably short article that lays out the LP position and (if
   appropriate) contains relevant graphics and photographs to illustrate
   the main points of the article.  If possible, the issue paper would be
   linked to an assortment of scholarly articles to assist those
   interested in pursuing the matter in depth.
       If we choose to develop pamphlets that are more detailed than the
   "basic info + point the reader to LP.org" model mentioned above, it may
   be best to proceed by developing an extensive issue paper about a topic
   and designing a pamphlet based upon that issue paper. I suggest this
   because the marginal cost of designing a pamphlet based upon an
   extensive issue paper may be relatively small.
       Based upon my seat-of-the-pants empirical analysis, I believe we
   should consider producing pamphlets on the following topics (listed in
   no particular order):
   *  Government involvement in health care and insurance markets
   *  American foreign policy (in particular, the various conflicts in
   which we are currently (or were recently) engaged)
   *  Immigration/emigration issues
   *  Government efforts to eviscerate Fourth Amendment rights
   *  Police and prosecutorial misconduct (perhaps in the context of a
   discussion of the doctrine of qualified immunity for government
   officials)
   *  The massive amount of federal government spending
   *  Efforts by governments to prevent people from monitoring the
   behavior of government officials (especially efforts to criminalize
   videotaping the conduct of police officers)
   *  The extraordinary costs of Drug Prohibition, along with the
   increasing militarization of police
   *  "Crony Capitalism"
   *  Eminent domain abuses
   *  "Food freedom" issues
       Some additional topics we should consider include the war on gaming
   (especially online gambling), government involvement with marriage,
   increasing efforts to regulate the Internet and tax Internet commerce,
   and government destruction of jobs via licensing laws.  Unfortunately,
   there is a depressingly long list of topics about which we can prepare
   literature.
       As always, thanks for your work for liberty, and for your
   consideration of my comments and suggestions.  I hope these comments
   and suggestions are helpful to you.
       Take care,
       Jim
       James W. Lark, III
       Professor, Dept. of Systems and Information Engineering
       Professor, Applied Mathematics Program, Dept. of Engineering and
   Society
       Affiliated Faculty, Dept. of Statistics
       University of Virginia
       Advisor, The Liberty Coalition
       University of Virginia
       Region 5 Representative, Libertarian National Committee