Policy Career Guides

Home / Policy levers / Regulatory policy Contents ▾ Policy Levers Updated 27th May 2026 42 min read Share Regulatory policy Overview Federal regulations—legally binding rules that Congress has authorized federal agencies to create—touch nearly all aspects of life. More than 100 US federal agencies regulate hundreds of thousands of activities and products, from aviation

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Outline:

(00:09) Overview

(01:18) Why does the government regulate?

(03:34) Regulatory policy basics

(07:21) Types of regulation

(07:31) Policy areas and their regulators

(07:49) Consumer protection

(08:41) Antitrust and competition policy

(09:41) Health, safety, and environment

(10:47) Financial systems

(12:25) National security and critical systems

(13:37) Information integrity and online harms

(14:31) Regulatory tools

(15:27) Federal vs. state regulation

(16:48) Regulation and emerging technology

(17:48) Major recent regulatory developments in AI

(20:45) Major recent regulatory developments in bio

(23:27) Why (not) work on regulatory policy?

(23:32) The case for impact

(25:47) The case for professional growth

(27:16) Some tradeoffs

(29:37) The regulatory process: Who's involved?

(32:16) Setting the agenda

(32:41) Congress

(33:47) The White House

(35:34) Regulatory agencies

(36:44) External groups

(37:14) Drafting regulations

(40:08) Interagency review and clearance

(42:03) How to do a regulatory impact analysis

(45:46) Public comment and consultation

(47:04) Finalization and publication

(49:35) Implementation and enforcement

(53:03) Oversight

(54:52) Working on regulatory policy: types of roles and career opportunities

(55:37) Preparing for regulatory policy roles

(58:50) Appendix: Day-in-the-life

(58:54) Day in the life: Stories from people working on regulatory policy

(01:00:34) Further reading

(01:00:41) General

(01:00:51) On regulation

(01:01:11) On the rulemaking process

(01:01:49) On regulatory analysis

(01:01:58) Notes

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If you’re interested in pursuing a career in emerging technology policy, complete our Policy Career Interest Form, and we may be able to match you with opportunities suited to your background and interests.

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Home / Tips & resources / Using LinkedIn for policy roles Contents ▾ Tips & Resources Updated 15th Jun 2026 12 min read Share Using LinkedIn for policy roles This guide explains how to effectively use LinkedIn to build your professional network and identify and pursue policy-focused roles (e.g. in Congress, think tanks, state legislatures).

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Outline:

(00:51) How to optimize your profile

(06:41) Examples: About sections

(06:54) "About" section examples

(09:22) What to post and share

(10:39) How to search for policy jobs on LinkedIn

(12:41) Using LinkedIn to build your policy network

(13:26) Who should you message?

(14:28) What should you say?

(16:58) Further resources

(17:04) Notes

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If you’re interested in pursuing a career in emerging technology policy, complete our Policy Career Interest Form, and we may be able to match you with opportunities suited to your background and interests.

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A political campaign is an organized effort to elect candidates to public office or pass ballot initiatives such as constitutional amendments, legislative referenda, or local ordinances.

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Outline:

(02:04) Campaign types, organization, and roles

(02:09) Campaign types

(04:47) Primary and general election campaigns

(07:42) Competitive campaigns and partisan campaign committees

(10:31) Legislative campaigns

(13:21) Executive campaigns

(14:08) Judicial campaigns and ballot initiatives

(15:28) Organization and roles

(17:45) Campaign finance

(18:47) Working on a transition team

(21:31) Campaign timelines

(23:40) Personal fit: Pros & cons to campaign work

(23:56) Pros

(24:55) Building experience, skills, and networks

(26:13) Career advancement

(30:23) Civic engagement

(31:22) Cons

(34:45) Testing your fit for campaign work

(36:09) Getting a political campaign role

(36:56) Choosing a campaign: a framework and tool

(38:54) Additional considerations for choosing a campaign

(42:30) Typical campaign salary

(43:40) Finding a job and the hiring process

(45:14) Preparing for an interview

(46:44) What comes next: post-campaign employment

(51:33) Transitioning from campaigning to post-campaign work

(52:51) Further reading

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If you’re interested in pursuing a career in emerging technology policy, complete our Policy Career Interest Form, and we may be able to match you with opportunities suited to your background and interests.

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This guide covers the fundamentals of US regulatory policy at the federal level and its role in shaping emerging technologies. It walks through the regulatory process and key players, and discusses career opportunities in regulatory policy.

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Outline:

(00:09) Overview

(01:18) Why does the government regulate?

(03:33) Regulatory policy basics

(07:19) Types of regulation

(07:29) Policy areas and their regulators

(08:00) Regulatory tools

(08:43) Federal vs. state regulation

(10:04) Regulation and emerging technology

(11:16) Why (not) work on regulatory policy?

(11:21) The case for impact

(13:36) The case for professional growth

(15:05) Some tradeoffs

(17:27) The regulatory process: Who's involved?

(20:05) Setting the agenda

(20:40) Drafting regulations

(23:30) Interagency review and clearance

(25:34) Public comment and consultation

(26:53) Finalization and publication

(29:24) Implementation and enforcement

(32:54) Oversight

(34:42) Working on regulatory policy: types of roles and career opportunities

(35:20) Preparing for regulatory policy roles

(38:34) Appendix: Day-in-the-life

(38:48) Further reading

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If you’re interested in pursuing a career in emerging technology policy, complete our Policy Career Interest Form, and we may be able to match you with opportunities suited to your background and interests.

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This guide covers the fundamentals of US export controls and their role in shaping emerging technologies. It walks through the export control process and key players, then discusses career opportunities in export control policy.

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Outline:

(00:09) Overview

(01:32) Why does the government use export controls?

(02:23) Export control basics

(03:07) What gets controlled

(04:21) How controls work

(06:26) Controls beyond US borders

(08:08) Unilateral and multilateral controls

(09:14) Export controls and emerging technology

(10:25) Why (not) work on export controls?

(10:29) The case for impact

(12:09) The case for professional growth

(14:00) Factors limiting the effectiveness of some export controls

(16:51) The export controls process: Who's involved?

(19:15) Strategy and agenda-setting

(20:01) Regulatory development, license review, and enforcement

(20:43) Developing controls

(22:41) License review

(24:21) Enforcement

(26:25) Oversight

(28:39) Working on export controls: types of roles and career opportunities

(29:03) Preparing for export control work

(31:53) Appendices: Brief history of export controls

(32:06) Further reading

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If you’re interested in pursuing a career in emerging technology policy, complete our Policy Career Interest Form, and we may be able to match you with opportunities suited to your background and interests.

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Short-term policy programs can help you build expertise, network with professionals, and explore policy careers. This post highlights a range of policy seminars, workshops, and courses, typically running from 2-3 days to 6 weeks, many of which are free or offer stipends.

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Outline:

(01:08) General policy opportunities

(10:22) Science and tech policy opportunities

(15:06) Programs for students from specific universities

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If you’re interested in pursuing a career in emerging technology policy, complete our Policy Career Interest Form, and we may be able to match you with opportunities suited to your background and interests.

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This guide explains how and why the US government funds R&D, outlines key institutions and processes, and discusses considerations and opportunities for working in R&D policy.

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Outline:

(00:09) Overview

(01:39) Why does the government invest in R&D?

(04:39) Federal R&D funding basics

(09:02) Funding models and mechanisms

(12:42) Federal R&D funding and emerging technology

(25:10) Why (not) work on federal R&D funding?

(25:16) The case for impact

(28:36) The case for professional growth

(30:26) Some tradeoffs

(33:43) The funding process: Who's involved?

(35:26) Budget and policy direction setting

(45:34) Grant-making and program execution

(47:26) Conducting the actual R&D

(50:13) Coordination

(52:52) Oversight

(54:46) Working on R&D funding: types of roles and career opportunities

(55:24) Preparing for R&D funding roles

(59:20) Appendices: Day-in-the-life & a brief history of federal R&D funding

(01:08:54) Further reading

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If you’re interested in pursuing a career in emerging technology policy, complete our Policy Career Interest Form, and we may be able to match you with opportunities suited to your background and interests.

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The FTC is an independent federal agency of the US government with a dual mission to promote fair competition and protect American consumers from predatory or misleading business practices.

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Outline:

(00:10) Overview

(01:11) Background on FTC

(02:22) Organizational structure

(03:46) FTC and AI policy

(03:50) FTC components working on AI policy

(05:27) Recent AI-related developments at FTC

(08:24) Working at FTC

(09:19) Further reading

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If you’re interested in pursuing a career in emerging technology policy, complete our Policy Career Interest Form, and we may be able to match you with opportunities suited to your background and interests.

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State oversees US foreign policy, negotiating treaties, managing diplomatic missions, and representing the US in international bodies.

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Outline:

(00:21) Overview

(02:11) Background on State

(04:08) Organizational structure

(06:47) Workforce

(09:07) Department of State and AI policy

(10:16) Major recent AI-related developments at State

(13:42) State offices working on AI-related policy

(14:02) Department of State and biosecurity policy

(17:15) Major recent biosecurity-related developments at State

(21:22) State offices working on biosecurity-related policy

(21:40) Working at State

(24:07) Further reading

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If you’re interested in pursuing a career in emerging technology policy, complete our Policy Career Interest Form, and we may be able to match you with opportunities suited to your background and interests.

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This guide explains how the US government develops and uses technical standards and evaluations and how they intersect with emerging technology policy. It outlines key institutions and processes and discusses considerations and opportunities for working in this space.

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Outline:

(00:11) Overview

(02:16) Why does the government use technical standards and evaluations?

(04:39) Technical standards and evaluations basics

(04:44) What are technical standards?

(06:57) What are evaluations?

(08:38) The lifecycle of standards and evals

(09:44) Who makes standards?

(12:28) How US agencies adopt and use standards

(15:45) Standards & evaluations for emerging technology

(16:29) AI

(18:29) Biosecurity and life sciences

(21:45) Why (not) work on technical standards & evaluations?

(22:02) The case for impact

(24:09) The case for professional growth

(25:24) Limitations

(27:34) How does the USG engage with standards? Who's involved?

(29:16) Agencies creating standards themselves

(31:56) Agencies participating in external (non-governmental) standard-setting bodies

(33:06) Agencies or legislators adopting or referencing external standards

(35:01) Working on standards & evals: types of roles and career opportunities

(35:25) Preparing for standards & evals roles

(40:20) Appendices: Day-in-the-life

(40:34) Further reading

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If you’re interested in pursuing a career in emerging technology policy, complete our Policy Career Interest Form, and we may be able to match you with opportunities suited to your background and interests.

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