A.B. Public Policy (Woodrow Wilson School)

Princeton University

Bachelor's degree

In Princeton (USA)

Price on request

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Description

  • Type

    Bachelor's degree

  • Location

    Princeton (USA)

The Woodrow Wilson School (WWS) (link is external) offers a multidisciplinary liberal arts major for students who desire to be engaged in public service and become leaders in the world of public and international affairs. To enable students to acquire the tools, understanding, and habits of mind necessary to pursue policy problems of their choosing, the major is largely self-designed but with the structure and guidance needed for an education that is both broad and deep.

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Princeton (USA)
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08544

Start date

On request

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  • Climate
  • Social Science
  • Financial Training
  • Trade
  • Government
  • Public
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  • Global
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  • Climate Change
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  • Leadership
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  • International Relations
  • IT Law

Course programme

WWS 200 Statistics for Social Science Spring QR An introduction to probability theory and statistical methods especially as they relate to public policy. The course will consist of a brief introduction to probability theory as well as various topics in statistics and how they can be used in the public policy realm. Subject areas will include random variables, sampling, descriptive statistics, distributions, estimation, hypothesis testing, and introduction to the regression model. The data sources will be actual examples taken from the public policy realm. Stata, a general purpose statistical programming package will be used to perform the statistical analysis. M. Watson

WWS 201 Introduction to Urban Studies (See URB 201)

WWS 300 Microeconomics for Public Policy Spring SA Microeconomics is the study of how people and societies confront scarcity. This course, taught at the intermediate level, focuses on markets as a mechanism for dealing with scarcity, and uses examples that cast light on public policy issues. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Prerequisite: ECO 100. M. Fleurbaey

WWS 301 International Trade (also

ECO 352

) Spring SA Examination of the causes and economic consequences of international trade in goods and services, investment and migration. Stress on the possibility of aggregate national gains from trade, and the distributional conflicts generated by trade. Analysis of policies regarding these issues from the perspective of economics and political economy. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Prerequisites: WWS 100 or ECO 300 or ECO 310. G. Grossman

WWS 306 Environmental Economics (also

ECO 329

/

ENV 319

) Fall SA An introduction to the use of economics in thinking about and dealing with environmental issues. Stress on economic externalities and the problem of dealing with them as instances of organizing gains from trade. Applications to a wide variety of problems, among them air pollution (including, importantly, global climate change), water pollution, solid waste and hazardous substances management, species preservation, and population policy. S. Brunnermeier

WWS 307 Public Economics (also

ECO 349

) Fall SA Evaluation of public policies in terms of economic efficiency and equity. The course will examine the conditions that lead to efficient markets and those that lead to market failure, as well as the implications for government policy. It will discuss both existing and proposed public policies in a number of areas, including education, health care, poverty, financial markets, the environment, and industrial development. Prerequisites: Economics 100 and 101, or instructor's permission. Two lectures, one preceptorial. E. Bogan

WWS 310 American Politics (See POL 220)

WWS 311 The Politics of Development (See POL 351)

WWS 312 International Relations (See POL 240)

WWS 315 Grand Strategy (also

POL 393

) Spring SA Military strategy was defined by Clauswitz as the use of battle to achieve the objectives of war. Grand strategy is broader, encompassing the attempted use by political leaders of financial economic, and diplomatic, as well as military, power to achieve their objectives in peacetime and in war. This seminar will examine the theory and practice of grand strategy both to illuminate how relations among city-states, empires, kingdoms and nation states have evolved over the centuries and also to identify some common challenges that have confronted all who seek to make and execute grand strategy, from Pericles to Barack Obama. A. Friedberg

WWS 317 International Relations of East Asia (also

POL 389

/

EAS 462

) Spring SA This course will concentrate on the Cold War and post Cold War international relations of East Asia. In the first two weeks we will cover general theoretical approaches to international relations and a brief historical backdrop of Western and Japanese imperialism in the region. In the following weeks, we will discuss the interaction between changes in the broader international system and changes in international relations in the East Asian region. The course will finish with discussion of implications of events and trends since the end of the Cold War. Two lectures, one preceptorial. T. Christensen

WWS 323 Chinese Politics (See POL 362)

WWS 325 Introduction to Comparative Politics (See POL 230)

WWS 330 Population, Society and Public Policy (also

SOC 328

) Not offered this year SA This course focuses on the causes and consequences of population change and the policy levers used to regulate demographic behavior and outcomes. In addition to basic demographic concepts, measures and data, we will address questions such as: What is the carrying capacity of the planet? Why has fertility declined in some countries but not others? How does population growth influence the environment? What does population aging portend for social security solvency? Can countries regulate international migration? Why does China have so many male births? Is marriage obsolete? Is urban life good or bad for your health? M. Tienda

WWS 331 Race and Public Policy (also

SOC 312

/

AAS 317

) Spring SA Analyzes the historical construction of race as a concept in American society, how and why this concept was institutionalized publicly and privately in various arenas of U.S. public life at different historical junctures, and the progress that has been made in dismantling racialized institutions since the civil rights era. One three-hour seminar. D. Massey

WWS 332 Quantitative Analysis for Public Policy Not offered this year QR The course will review the principal methods of data analysis and applied statistics used in political, economic, psychological, and policy research, including multiple regression, analysis of variance, and nonparametric methods. These methods will be introduced in the context of case studies that will incorporate research design, data collection, data management, exploratory and inferential analyses, and the presentation of results. Two lectures, one preceptorial. Staff

WWS 334 Media and Public Policy (also

SOC 319

) Not offered this year SA Introduction to communications policy and law, covering such topics as freedom of the press and the development of journalism; intellectual property; regulation of telecommunications, broadcasting, and cable; and policy challenges raised by the Internet and the globalization of the media. P. Starr

WWS 340 The Psychology of Decision Making and Judgment (also

PSY 321

) Not offered this year EC An introduction to the logic of decision making and reasoning under uncertainty. Focus on psychological mechanisms that govern choice and judgment and on characteristic errors found in intuitive judgment and choice. Discussion of divergence from the model of rational agent often assumed in social science theory and economics. Rules governing pleasure, pain, and well-being provide background for analysis of the rationality of some individual choices and for the evaluation of general policies that affect human welfare. Prerequisite: introductory statistics for social science or instructor's permission. E. Shafir

WWS 350 The Environment: Science and Policy (also

ENV 350

) Spring STN This course examines a set of critical environmental issues including population growth, ozone layer depletion, climate change, loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services and depletion of global fisheries. It provides an overview of the scientific basis for these problems and examines past, present and possible future policy responses. D. Wilcove, J. Sato

WWS 351 Information Technology and Public Policy (also

SOC 353

/

COS 351

) Spring SA New technologies have changed the way we communicate with each other and learn about our world. They have also raised public policy dilemmas in every area they touch: communications, regulation, privacy, national security, intellectual property and many others. This course is predicated on the belief that we can only productively address the social and policy dimensions of the Internet if we understand the technology behind the Internet; the social-science concepts and research that illuminate the likely effects of policy options; and tradeoffs among fundamental values that different policy options imply. Two ninety-minute seminars. E. Felten

WWS 353 Science and Global Security: From Nuclear Weapons to Cyberwarfare and Artificial Intelligence (also

MAE 353

) Spring STN This course will provide students with a basic technical understanding of some of the critical technologies that are relevant to national and global security and will equip students with the skills to better assess the challenge of developing effective policies to manage such technologies. Case studies will inter alia include nuclear weapons and their proliferation, nuclear and radiological terrorism, space weapons, biosecurity and cyberware. Two lectures. A. Glaser

WWS 355 Infection: Biology, Burden, Policy (See MOL 425)

WWS 363 Public Leadership and Public Policy in the U.S. (also

POL 463

) Not offered this year SA Considers the intellectual (ethical and legal) frameworks for making leadership decisions on major public issues in the United States, as well as the operational frameworks for effective and responsible public leadership. Students review historical cases from federal and state government, discuss the policy decisions made in each case, and examine the decision-making processes in view of these frameworks. Two 90-minute seminars. N. Scovronick

WWS 370 Ethics and Public Policy (also

POL 308

/

CHV 301

) Fall EM This course examines basic ethical controversies in public life. What rights do persons have at the beginning and end of life? Do people have moral claims to unequal economic rewards or is economic distribution properly subject to political design for the sake of social justice? Do we have significant moral obligations to distant others? Other possible topics include toleration (including the rights of religious and cultural minorities), racial and gender equity, and just war. Two lectures, one preceptorial. S. Kelts

WWS 380 Critical Perspectives in Global Health (See GHP 350)

WWS 381 Epidemiology: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective (See GHP 351)

WWS 385 Civil Society and Public Policy (also

AMS 350

) Fall SA Civil society is the arena of voluntary organizations (churches, social welfare organizations, sporting clubs) and communal activity. Scholars now tell us that such voluntary and cooperative activities create "social capital"--a stock of mutual trust that forms the glue that holds society together. The course will be devoted to the study of the history of these concepts, and to the analysis of their application to the United States and other societies. This will be an interdisciplinary effort, embracing history, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, and other disciplines. One three-hour seminar. S. Katz

WWS 386 Race and the American Legal Process: Emancipation to the Voting Rights Act (See AAS 362)

WWS 389 Race, Drugs, and Drug Policy in America (See HIS 393)

WWS 401 Policy Seminars Fall Open only to students enrolled in the school. (See description above.) Juniors who are concentrators in the school must register for the policy task force as "Junior Independent Work.'' Certificate students and seniors should register for WWS 401 or 402 as a course rather than junior independent work. Staff

WWS 402 Policy Seminars Spring Open only to students enrolled in the school. Juniors who are concentrators in the school must register for the policy task force as "Junior Independent Work.'' Certificate students and seniors should register for 401 or 402 as a course rather than junior independent work. Staff

WWS 406 Issues in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (also

ECO 429

) Not offered this year SA Course introduces use of economics in understanding both the sources of and the remedies to environmental and resource allocation problems. It emphasizes the reoccurrence of economic phenomenon like public goods, externalities, market failure and imperfect information. Students learn about the design and evaluation of environmental policy instruments, the political economy of environmental policy, and the valuation of environmental and natural resource services. These concepts are illustrated in a variety of applications from domestic pollution of air, water and land to international issues such as global warming and sustainable development. S. Brunnermeier

WWS 420 International Institutions and Law (also

POL 444

) Not offered this year SA This course will focus on the continual tension between international law and international politics. It will examine the impact of this tension on issues of intervention and also on other issues of substantive importance, including environmental protection, trade, human rights, laws of war applicable to the "war on terror," and crimes of state. The course will also discuss recent developments affecting international institutions and recent changes in international law, such as the changing conception of "sovereignty." One three-hour seminar. R. Keohane

WWS 421 Comparative Constitutional Law (also

POL 479

/

CHV 470

) Fall SA This course will introduce students to the variety of forms of constitutional government and the way that human rights are understood and enforced by courts around the world. We will trace the emergence of a global constitutional culture and focus more directly on the constitutions of South Africa, India, Germany, France, Hungary, Israel and Canada. We will give primary emphasis to the rights provisions in national constitutions, but will also take transnational constitutional regimes through examining decisions of the European Courts of Human Rights. Two ninety-minute seminars. K. Scheppele

WWS 451 Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation, Policy (See GEO 366)

WWS 452 Global Environmental Issues (See CEE 334)

WWS 455 Disease Ecology, Economics, and Policy (See ENV 304)

WWS 466 Financial History (also

HIS 467

) Fall HA The course examines the history of financial innovation and its consequences. It examines the evolution of trading practices, bills of exchange, government bonds, equities, banking activity, derivatives markets, and securitization. How do these evolve in particular state or national settings, how are the practices regulated, how do they relate to broader development? What happens as financial instruments are traded across state boundaries, and how does an international financial order evolve? What are the effects of international capital mobility? How is resulting conflict and instability managed, on both a national and international level? H. James

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A.B. Public Policy (Woodrow Wilson School)

Price on request

The best Politics courses

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