The Anti-Discrimination Policy Sandbox: A Preemptive Institutional Framework for Difference-Sensitive Governance in Asia
Policy discrimination remains pervasive in Asia’s diverse societies. Existing evaluation tools—such as Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIA) and Gender Impact Assessments (GIA)—are typically static, one-off procedures that fail to detect or correct structural discrimination embedded in facially neutral policy designs. To fill this institutional gap, this paper proposes the Anti-Discrimination Policy Sandbox, a novel preemptive governance mechanism that integrates difference-sensitive justice theory, democratic experimentalism, and regulatory sandbox practices developed in fintech and AI oversight.
The sandbox allows policymakers to conduct controlled policy simulations, test synthetic datasets, and incorporate staged feedback from affected communities before formal implementation. Guided by a zero-real-harm principle, it enables the proactive identification and correction of discriminatory effects at the rule-making stage. The study systematically reviews global HRIA/GIA mechanisms and compares them with experimental sandbox regimes. Drawing from practices such as Taiwan’s gender budgeting and Korea’s GIA law, the paper formulates an institutional model that includes entry/exit protocols, multi-stakeholder engagement, transparent reporting, and policy response obligations.
Findings suggest that the sandbox addresses the static limitations of traditional assessments by facilitating evidence-based, real-time policy correction. Yet, institutionalizing the mechanism in Asia faces challenges, including high simulation costs, vague standards, low public participation, and administrative opacity. The paper outlines key enabling conditions: data infrastructure, legal mandates, and cross-agency coordination.
By embedding difference-sensitivity and iterative feedback into the policy design process, the Anti-Discrimination Policy Sandbox offers a flexible and transferable institutional solution for advancing equality governance in pluralistic societies. It contributes both a theoretical innovation and a practical model for inclusive policymaking in Asia and beyond.