This course provides an in-depth understanding of the core elements of the public policy process and the key actors and institutions involved in policymaking. Public policies differ enormously. Some are heavily informed by economics (e.g., trade policy, competition policy), others by physics (e.g., nuclear energy policy, policy on high-speed rail transport), and still others by ethics, sociology, and medicine (e.g., international development policy, education policy, drugs policy). What all these vastly different policies have in common, however, is that they are seldom purely scientific or technical. Politics matters, and it often matters a lot. For this reason, effective political analysis of public policy issues and decisions is necessary for professionals in and around government. Following a presentation of the core elements of the public policy process and the key actors and institutions involved in policy-making, students will learn how problems are defined and measured, how and why issues get into the agenda, the rationale for government intervention across policy areas and levels of governance, how policy decisions are taken and implemented, which tools are used to address policy problems and evaluate policies, and how policies may or may not spread internationally.

Assessment

Grades will be calculated as follows:

• Participation in class discussion, including attendance: 15%
• Oral presentation: 15
• Short essay 20%
• Mid-term exam 25%
• End-term exam 25%