Home / Library / The Four-Stage Pattern of Failed Policies

Notable Quote

"The pattern is: (1) The anointed assert that there is some grave danger or crisis. (2) The anointed propose some course of action to deal with it. (3) Evidence that the proposed course of action has made things worse is either ignored or explained away. (4) The anointed proceed as if the policy were working, blaming any remaining problems on the inadequacy of commitment to the policy."

— Sowell, Thomas event 1995

From The Vision of the Anointed

Context: From *The Vision of the Anointed* (1995). Sowell's four-stage template for how failed social policies — in crime, education, welfare — are systematically shielded from empirical accountability by those who designed them.

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