Master of Public Administration (MPA) - MA

The module will explore the explanations that have been given for the variations in policy in fields such as health, education, urban policy, etc between nations and groups of nations. It will draw on examples of policy in each area from both developing and developed nations. Students will be encouraged to research case studies in particular fields of policy and to present these. The instructional model is devoted to a comparative analysis of local policies in some of the most important social fields. The general principles of government policy are considered in turn, along with a comparative study of national economic development policy, social policy, and policy in health, education and public order. There will be special topics consisting of the basic directions of local policy (municipal development, public services and transport). Having studied the model, the students will have gained an overall impression of typical problems tackled at national level in these areas, ways of solving them in different states and the machinery of government policy in these areas.

The Project/Dissertation is a major part of the MPA course and for this reason it carries three times the weight of a normal module. It allows students to conduct an extended investigation into a topic of their choice within the field of public administration / policy.

The module enables students to design and conduct research in a public service setting (including that required for projects and dissertations), to understand key debates in public policy research and to bid for and evaluate bids for funding.

This module introduces students to the concept of public service strategies and how they relate to the public policy making process. It requires you to focus on the strategy making process in an organisation of your choice. An introduction to concepts of strategy, administration and management is followed by an analysis of contexts, core values, problem identification, options analysis, models of decision-making, and implementation. Strategies of, and management of change are a key focus. The evaluation of the success of strategic decisions and an appraisal of ethical issues arising are also considered.

This module examines the process of European integration. It seeks to explain why this process has occurred and to examine the nature of its principal institutional manifestation, the European Union.

This multi-disciplinary module examines health and health care in urban settings. It focuses on the notions of urban health crisis, urban health penalty and urban health advantage which are examined by reference to London and other selected “global” and "world cities". It explores the significance for health and health care of London and other world cities by focusing at their position as global cities as the starting point. Hence, students will examine health challenges experienced in London and other world cities by patients, communities, health workers, service providers and local authorities against a background of globalization. The module uses a public health approach grounded in the impact of social and economic factors on health exemplified in the work of the London Health Improvement Board and WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. The module highlights urban and public health issues and inequalities in health status amongst population groups and communities within urban settings. In addition, it analyses the outstanding factors that create differences in health and healthcare systems between global / world cities in the developed and developing world. Therefore, it provides an opportunity for students to develop skills underpinned by global citizenry and attributes that will enable them to engage critically with the process of formulating policy in relation to shifting public health agendas towards health promotion and health care improvement in urban settings in the context of globalisation.

Issues such as corruption, organised crime, political violence, state disintegration, and extreme poverty present particular challenges to administration in developing and transitional societies. This module examines the new pressures and opportunities such societies face in administering public services. It will also explore the role of key international agencies engaged in global governance reform, such as the WTO, UN, World Bank and the IMF, and the role of NGO’s and bilateral donors. A key focus of the module will be to evaluate the effectiveness of different development strategies, using quantitative and qualitative techniques.

This module has been designed to enable students to reflect on their management knowledge, skills and experiences, set their own development goals and draw on a robust theoretical framework and practice skills set to address common management issues. Students will be able to analyse management approaches critically in respect of the quality of service delivery and staff performance and in the context of resource constraints.

This module provides an advanced examination of patterns in multi-tier governance, within the context of globalisation and increased complexity of the modern state. It explores the historical and contemporary nature of sub-central (local and regional) and supra-national governance, their relationship with central governments, and sets this within the theoretic and systemic context.

This is a core module for the MSc Public Health programme. The module explores theory, policy and practical aspects of public health and health promotion within a World Health Organisation context and a Faculty of Public Health approach. Students contextualise current public health practice drawing on comparative approaches. The main focus will be key theories, policies and practices influencing developments in public health and health promotion at international, national and local levels. Relevant initiatives and research in strategies and priorities for public health and health promotion such as health inequalities, participation and involvement, partnership working, social determinants of health, life styles and behaviour and population groups will be analysed. The Module also provides an opportunity to examine multiple global perspectives in relation to key contemporary public health challenges.

The module enables students to experience directly the work of a relevant area of public service in a public or voluntary sector organisation over a 25-30 day period.

The module starts from the proposition that the study of social policy includes much more than the study of western welfare states. It examines critically the ways in which societies and communities from the local to the transnational, not just governments, address (or fail to address) basic needs. The module uses a selection of policy examples which aim to address a range of basic needs such as access to paid employment, healthcare, schooling, citizenship, family benefits, in and out of work benefits, pensions, affordable housing, adult care, early childhood education and care. It will look at aspects of these through various analytic lenses, including the impact of policies on social divisions, and the roles of neoliberalism, globalisation, social investment, human development, social development, antiracist and feminist perspectives. The module includes a ‘regional’ approach, covering some of the following: the European Union; Latin America; North America; sub-Saharan Africa; East Asia; the Indian sub-continent. The most prominent approaches to comparative social policy are pervasive, namely: regime analysis, path dependency/institutionalism, and convergent functionalism.