Although it’s hard not to think about such things right now, it’s not all about elections. Those of us who want to make the world more just also need to think about and advocate for specific policies to move things in that direction in real time at the national, state, and local level when opportunities arise.

I’d like to share a simple nonideological model for thinking about how policy change happens—or doesn’t. The model was developed by political scientist John Kingdon’s 1984 book “Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies.”

On August 4, a massive explosion in Beirut killed more than 200 people, injured thousands more, and leveled much of the city. The devastating blast came in the midst of pandemic—and the worst economic crisis Lebanon had experienced in decades.