Undergraduate
Public Policy Minor Program
An undergraduate minor is
available to undergraduates in the College of Arts and
Sciences and in the economics and management programs
housed within the Weatherhead School of Management. The
requirements are in four categories, listed below.
Substitutions can be made under exceptional
circumstances, at the discretion of the Minor Advisor.
It consists of 15 credit hours:
A.
The policy process: One course from POSC
386, 383, or
306 - POSC 386: American Public
Policy Process (3 credit hours)
This
course is designed to introduce students to the American
public policy process. How is
public policy made in the United States What are its
goals? Why do policymakers
pay more attention to some issues than others? Why do
they consider some policy proposals carefully and reject
others out of hand? What is
the role of organized interests in influencing the
process? How can programs be
effectively administered and how do we measure success
in achieving public policy goals?
After a
brief consideration of the political and cultural
context of public policymaking in the United States, we
will examine the goals of public policy and the key
participants in its formation. We will then examine how political actors frame
issues and mobilize support in order to set the
governmental agenda. In this context, we'll assess the
alternative policy tools available to government to
accomplish policy goals. Finally, we'll conclude the
course with an examination of policy implementation and
policy evaluation.
POSC 383: Health Politics and Politics in the
U.S. (3 credit hours)
Health care in the United States consumes 15
percent of the national economy,
and the share is rising quickly. Access to, cost, and
quality of medical services are of
fundamental interest to all Americans, even or
especially those who are too young or too
frail to know what their interests are. Government is
involved with health care in more
ways than anyone can count.
These factors all make health policy important for its
own sake. They also make
evaluation of how health policy is made a good way to
study politics. Instead of talking
about institutions in isolation, this course studies
politics by looking at what government
actually does about public problems.
Therefore this course is designed especially for
two groups of students. One is
political science students. The other is those who
might choose careers in public health,
medicine, or related fields. It may have a bit too much
politics for one group, and a bit
too much health policy for the other. I hope each will
conclude that both aspects of the
course are important and interesting.
POSC 306: Interest Groups in the Policy Process
(3 credit hours)
Introduction to the institutions and processes that
make up the political environment of nonprofit and
other organizations in the United States, beginning
with an examination of the role of civil society in a
democracy and continuing with the framing of issues,
role of political entrepreneurs and organized
interests,
elections, the legislative process and strategies for
influencing it, and the roles of executive institutions
and the courts.
B. Economic
Analysis: One course from Econ 205 or
102
- ECON
205: Economic Perspectives (3 credit hours)
This course examines important contemporary and
historical issues from an economic perspective. It
enables students to think about the world "like an
economist." Possible topics of current interest include
the transformation of Eastern Europe, ethnic and racial
strife, environmental policy and sustainable
development, and professional sports.
-
- Econ 102: Principle of Microeconomics (3
credit hours)
- This course is an introduction to microeconomic
theory, providing a foundation for future study in
economics. In particular, it addresses how
individuals and businesses make choices concerning
the use of scarce resources, how prices and incomes
are determined in competitive markets, and how market
power affects the prices and quantities of goods
available to society. We will also examine the impact
of government intervention in the economy.
C. Policy making institutions:
One course
selected from HSTY 256,
358, 400; POSC
308, 310,
323,
384,
385
- HSTY 256: American Political
History (3 credit hours)
From the origins of American politics in
the colonial period to the present. The Revolution
and Constitutional debate; presidential politics and
leadership; voters and voting patterns; Congress and
the courts. Emphasis both on the ideas that animated
Americanpolitics and on the relation of politics
to society.
HSTY 358: America Since 1940 (3 credit hours)
A comprehensive introduction to the recent history of
the Unites States, organized around changes in national
policy and politics. Special emphasis on the impact of
World War II and the Cold War; the expansion of the
federal government through the Great Society and
beyond; the Civil Rights and Women’s
Rights movements; challenges to the legitimacy of
politics; and the efforts to maintain economic growth.
HSTY 400: Graduate Topical Seminar
(3 credit hours)
A rotating graduate seminar, offered
every semester bya different faculty member. Each
semester focuses on a topic of central historiographical or
methodological importance.
POSC 308: The American
Presidency (3 credit hours)
The sources of, strategies of, and restraints on
presidential leadership in the United States.
Emphasis on problems of policy formation,
presidential relations with Congress and executive agencies,
and the electoral process
POSC 310: The Legislative
Process (3 credit hours)
Legislative, representative, and other
functions of Congress and state legislatures; legislative
relations with the executive and with private interests;
powers and limitations of the legislature as a policy-making
institution.
POSC 323: Judicial Politics (3
credit hours)
Rejecting the view that judges mechanically apply the
law, the study of judicial politics seeks to
understand the behavior of judges as political actors
with policy goals. Topics include judicial selection
and socialization, judicial policy change, judicial
strategy (especially the strategic interaction of
judges on multi-judge
panels), the interaction of courts in hierarchical
judicial systems, the policy impact of judicial
decisions, and the courts’ interactions with
coordinate branches of government (the executive,
Congress, state governments, state courts). Primary
focus will be on the federal judiciary, with some
discussion of state judicial systems.
POSC 384: Ethics and Public Policy (3 credit
hours)
Evaluation of ethical arguments in contemporary public policymaking discourse. That is,
approaches to evaluating not only the efficiency of
policy (Will this policy achieve its end for the least
cost?) but also the ethics of policy (Are a policy’s
intended ends ethically justified or “good,” and are our means
to achieve those ends moral or “just”?). Overview of
political ideologies that supply U.S. political actors with
their ethical or moral arguments when proposing and
implementing public policy, followed by an
application of these differing perspectives to selected
policy areas such as welfare, euthanasia, school choice,
drug laws, censorship,or others.
POSC 385:
U.S. Bureaucratic Politics (3 credit hours)
Bureaucracy is one of civilization’s most important inventions. It is a way of coordinating
very large numbers of people so as to do work,
make decisions, and exercise power. Without it, much of
modern life would be impossible. Yet “bureaucracy”
is normally seen, in public discussion, as a
problem, instead of as a solution. This course will consider
both the reasons for and pathologies of bureaucratic
organization. Its special focus is bureaucracy in
American government. The course therefore will provide some
introduction to the study of American public
administration, but with special emphasis on how the work and
performance of public bureaucracies in the United
States is shaped by the specific tasks they are given and
the distribution of power in the American political arena.
D. Two courses within a particular field of public
policy, selected with the approval of the advisor. See the listings under “Policy Specialization Program” on the Policy Program
website.
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