Methods of policy analysis

Sessions: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

This course builds on 11.002J Making Public Policy. It assumes that you have already had some familiarity with the basic concepts and terminology of public policy and administration.

Policy makers and analysts around the world are facing difficult policy questions everyday: Should informal settlements in city centers be relocated to urban fringes? Should municipalities charge user fees instead of raising the property tax to finance local services? Should health care be universal?

In a world of complex political and socioeconomic interactions, predicting the effectiveness of a particular policy and identifying potential unintended consequences is a difficult task.

In this class, we will examine critically selected rational approaches of policy analysis. In theory, these standard procedures help frame policy questions, identify stakeholders and program goals, design policy options, weigh the costs and benefits of alternative courses of action, and evaluate actual outcomes. In practice, however, these procedures are seldom linear and unidirectional. We will discuss how to strike a balance between theory and practice in policy analysis using actual cases.

The class is designed for students who may be planning a career in public or non-profit sectors. The primary goal is to help you understand the implications of public policy for different pursuits. This understanding facilitates interactions with public officials and agencies.

This class will integrate lectures, class discussions, assigned readings, case study analysis, oral and written presentation of assignments, library and other research, in-class exercises, teamwork, small group presentations, and other activities. All the activities will aid you in attaining the major learning objectives of this course. This combination will allow each person to draw on his or her own experiences and talents to help themselves and others in the course to become competent in the course concepts and skills.

You are expected to come to class prepared to participate in scheduled activities. You will be encouraged to share experiences, knowledge, talents, and skills that are related to the course. You must also participate fully in all case study activities.

We will be using readings from multiple textbooks.

Additional readings, as necessary, will be made available in the Supplemental Readings section.

You will learn some of the basic concepts of policy analysis through actual case studies. Thus you are expected to read the assigned materials and case studies carefully prior to each class and to participate actively in the discussion. You will take weekly quizzes / surveys that will be graded as a component of your participation grade.

You will research a policy, analyze the consequences and stakeholders, and present recommendations for improvements. This will involve both written activities and an oral presentation in class. Writing and oral presentations are essential components of the learning process and your professional performance.

You will conduct research on:

You will write a final paper and make an oral presentation in class:

All written assignments except homework should be typed, double spaced, and follow the conventional rules of grammar, punctuation, spelling, and notation of references. All assignments must conform to the style of the publication manual of the American Psychological Association (APA style). All assignments must be uploaded to the course website.

Preparation for class attendance is an essential component of participation, since you must be prepared in order to contribute to the class. Participation also consists of reading the assigned material before class, contributing relevant comments to class discussions, participating in the case study analysis and presentation (carrying your weight in a group project will be assessed through a variety of means), engaging in constructive criticism, assisting other class members, and communicating with the instructors and other class members. Participation is worth 20 points (20% of grade), divided equally between classroom participation and teamwork.

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