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PS418/618 Course Syllabus -
Professor Russell Renka - Fall 2001

° Introduction
° Course Books and Readings
° Course Requirements
° Expectations of Students
° Journal Resources
° Reaching me
° Weekly Topics and Readings

Introduction                Top

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

Albert Einstein

    One of the most challenging enterprises in social science is the analysis of public policy.   Policy analysts are professional skeptics.  Public policy is produced largely by governments through those in key positions of power there.  The late Aaron Wildavsky cited policy analysis as "speaking truth to power," meaning those in power heard whether their policy works well or poorly regardless of what they wanted to hear.  That's an ideal, because policy analysis is typically done by analysts for those in power.  They are agents of a client who defines the policy problem and establishes the limits of analysis.  Within that constraint, the analyst's job is to produce a realistic answer to the question "if we do this, what will the results be?" or, more often, "since we've done this, what has the result been?"

   Sp analysts do forecasting alongside post mortems of how policy will work.  Forecasting violates the traditional political science model of the policy process, which assigns analysis to the end stage of a process where a public problem is defined, policy alternatives are formulated, stakeholders thrash out which if any is adopted, politicians decide upon adopting one or more, the adopted policy is implemented or carried out, and then at the end the policy is monitored and evaluated by analysts. Examples include the outcomes measures enjoying a current popularity among educational administrators and politicians charged with overseeing them. Policy analysis determines if something worked efficiently and well, and in a fashion consistent with the goals of its creators.  It is post hoc.  But in real life, policy analysis is done at all stages of the policy process.  It can do forecasts, post mortems, or both.  Ideally the analyst says "here's what will happen if you do this" and then once carried out, that prediction is tested post hoc against the real world's results.  Policy analysis is a way to systematically produce information about how policy works from beginning to end.  

    Policy analysis is theoretical but not abstract. It has immediate practical value, for policymakers employ analysis to resolve policy problems and to evaluate whether on balance the policy should be undertaken or not. Even more, policy advocates actively employ it as a potent weapon on behalf of their cherished policies; analysis is a major tool in the modern political arsenal. Policy analysis is an 'applied science' used very widely by decision makers, but it is subject to constant fights over whether its use is impartial, or partisan.

Before anyone can do policy analysis, public policy itself must be understood in its broad American form.  This course tracks a broad characterization of American public policy with an introduction to the standard language and methods of policy analysts.  A warning:  policy analysis is dominated by economists as surely as constitutional law is dominated by jurists.  There's certain tribal language and common assumptions one must wade through.. Frankly, some of it isn't simple material (Albert might send his regrets!).  But policy analysis in proper usage is a very powerful tool for making public policy better, for avoiding disastrous mistakes, for comparing alternative approaches, and for judging when to stop or start over.

Course Books and Readings:              Top

There are two books:
    Cochran, Charles L. and Eloise F. Malone.  1999.  Public Policy: Perspectives and Choices, 2d ed.  New York: McGraw-Hill College.  It's available at Textbook Service for PS418 students, and Southeast Bookstore for PS618 graduate students under the PS618 course label.  
     Weimer, David L., and Adam R. Vining.  1999.  Policy Analysis:  Concepts and Practice, 3rd ed.  Upper Saddle River, N.J.:  Prentice Hall.
Note:  These books are outrageously expensive, but the fault lies directly with the publishers rather than Southeast Bookstore.  Good books on policy analysis are scarce, and accordingly are relatively high-priced. 

PS418/618 Course Requirements             Top

Examinations:  This course relies minimally on examinations.  There is one at end of Week 4, another at Week 9 (per Itinerary, shown below).  These are the take-home type, where you get the question(s) and deliver replies within a week's time.  Each exam is worth 100 points.

Oral Presentations and Critiques:  Each of you will select a suitable policy for an oral classroom presentation, followed by a written analysis of the same topic. Under separate cover I'll write out the details on how this will be handled. For now, note in the Itinerary that most of the second half of the course is devoted to in-class presentations. The average time for oral presentation plus discussion is approximately 25 minutes.
    Each of you is also expected to serve as critical reviewer.  Here's how it works.  When others make oral presentations, you write notes and then prepare a written critique.  The critique is to be delivered to me (either by email or otherwise) by Monday after each Wednesday's meeting.  I take those to then write a summary critique for the presenter.
    The oral is worth 200 points.  The written critiques are worth another 100, so total is 300 points.

Term Papers:  Alongside the oral, you conclude the semester by turning in a written version.  The typical length of the written paper is approximately 10 full pages for PS418 students, and 20 or more for PS618.  On sources, follow the “ten and ten” rule.  That is, a term paper should be an honest 10-pager with ten or more sources. Shorter papers and those with few sources are typically the result of casual or last minute efforts.  Few can use that approach to successfully perform in a play, run well in a distance race, maintain a good love relationship, or rise to a new and higher post in the work world.  Neither can a good paper be written that way.
    The written paper is worth 200 points.

Select a topic and clear it with me.  You can start this at any time not later than times outlined below.  Here are dates for steps toward completion of the term paper:
            °September 19 (Week 5):  due date for topic selection
            °October 17 (Week 9):  deadline for topical outline plus sources (with a minimum of ten separate sources).
            °November 14 (Week 13):  deadline for submitting drafts (I will review and amend a draft if you choose to turn one in.  This is not required and does not involve a grade, but is just about guaranteed to make for a better final paper!)
            °Monday, December 3 (Week 16):  final paper deadline

Bulletin Board participation:  Every PS418 and PS618 student is expected to read the Bulletin Board and make periodic postings there.  See Posting on the Board for getting registered and started on the Board.  This site will include material on the presidential primaries, on the material covered in class, and on other political happenings in the news.  It's an ideal place to post queries about what something in lecture or readings is about, and will help cut down on excessive e-mail.  I'll inventory participation and periodically post it on an entry slot in GradeA Gradebook.  Credit applies only to meaningful participation, that is, saying something that contributes to furtherance of a conversation on one or more appropriate topics.    Board Value is 3 points per meaningful posting, up to 100 points total.

In summation, we get:
    Examination 1 - 100 points
    Examination 2 - 100
    Oral Presentation - 200
    Critiques of Oral - 100
    Final Written Paper - 200
    Bulletin Board - 100
    Total:  800 points

Expectations of Students                   Top

Attendance :  Attend each class session unless there’s a valid reason to miss such as personal illness, ill child, death in immediate family, motorcycle wreck, full blown Midwestern blizzard, New Madrid Fault disturbance of 6.5 or greater, or resumption of the Ice Age.  Not included:  excellent concert in St. Louis, home series of Cards and Cubs, Blues play the Wings, or the like.  For those in PS618 who have professional travel obligations, please use email or telephone voice mail to advise if you will miss or have missed class.

On plagiarism:  You should review the Student Handbook on the problem of plagiarism.  Most of you are familiar with the chronic problem of someone passing off another’s work as his or her own, yet it still crops up with distressing regularity.  I cannot accept any work except your own.  In academic circles, proper recognition of authorship is the coin of the realm.  We are all required to maintain the currency.  Distinguish what’s yours from what is borrowed from and attributed to someone else.

Journal Resources:                 Top

 Following are four of the leading policy analysis journals, all on Kent Library shelves for recent years. You are strongly encouraged to peruse these carefully for source materials on the topic you select for your oral presentation and term paper. The journals are:
    °Journal of Policy Analysis and Management
    °Policy Sciences
    °Policy Studies Journal
    °Policy Studies Review
    There are also numerous policy analysis sectors to mainstream journals in political science, economics, history, and the management sciences. These include the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, the British Journal of Political Science, the American Politics Quarterly, the American Economic Review, and the American Historical Review.  JSTOR Journals Browser for Political Science at JSTOR Journals Browser - Poli Science has nine journals, including the first three named above.  JSTOR Journals Browser- Economics has 13 more, and JSTOR Journals Browser - History has almost 20.
    Don't overlook the public administration journals, including Public Administration Review. Those of you in the MAS program should be familiar with that one in any event. There are also numerous trade journals specific to certain policy domains such as public health, crime and law enforcement, environmental policy, foreign policy, and public budgeting.
    For locally based issues, go to State and Local Government as a likely source. It has a generous share of articles with policy analysis.
    For treatment of current issues, an outstanding weekly journal of events and policies in the federal executive branch is National Journal. Where Congress is concerned, pay special attention to Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report. There are interpretive articles on public policy in many excellent monthly magazines, including New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly (The Atlantic Online), and Harper’s. Finally, there are a variety of advocacy and ideological journals, such as the conservative journal National Review (National Review Online), the "neo-liberal" Washington Monthly (Washington Monthly Magazine), and the left-wing Mother Jones (MotherJones.com). I recommend serious caution on their use as sources, but they are useful places for exploring hot issues.

Reaching me:           Top

I have an open door policy, and can very often be found at or near my office computer.  My office is Room 211L in the Department of Political Science office suite on Floor 2 of the Carnahan (Social Science) Building.  You can leave messages for me there if I am absent. In general, I can be reached as follows:
        a)      Leave a message at my Department mailbox or with the department office.
        b)      Leave a message at the drop outside my door at Carnahan 211L.
        c)      Place a voice mail message at (651-2692).
        d)      Email me at rdrenka@semo.edu.
        e)      If you’re out of town and cannot send a paper or assignment by email, then FAX it to 573/651-2695.
        f)    Consult my Home Page (http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/renka) for other details about myself and my courses, including this syllabus.

PS418/618 Weekly Topics and Readings - Fall 2001       Top

Southeast Academic Calendar - Fall 2001

Week 1 - August 22, 2001
    °Cochran and Malone ch. 1 - Basic Concepts in Public Policy
    °Cochran and Malone ch. 2 - Methods and Models for Policy Analysis
    °Weimer and Vining, ch. 1 - Preview:  The Canadian Salmon Fishery
    °Weimer and Vining, ch. 2 - What Is Policy Analysis?

Week 2 - August 29
    °Cochran and Malone ch. 3 - Rational Public Choice 
    °Cochran and Malone ch. 4 - Ideologies and Institutional Constraints:  Public Policy in America
    °Weimer and Vining, ch. 3 - Toward Professional Ethics
    °Weimer and Vining, ch. 4 - Efficiency and the Idealized Competitive Model

Week 3 - September 5     
    °Cochran and Malone ch. 5 - Economic Theory as a Basis of Public Policy
    °Cochran and Malone ch. 6 - Economic Policy:  Strategies for Tight Budgets and New Social Needs
    °Weimer and Vining, ch. 5 - Rationales for Public Policy:  Market Failures
    °Weimer and Vining, ch. 6 - Rationales for Public Policy:  Other Limitations of the Competitive Framework
    
Week 4 - September 12  **
    °Cochran and Malone ch. 7 - The Politics and Economics of Inequality
    °Weimer and Vining, ch. 7 - Rationales for Public Policy:  Distributional and Other Goals
    °Cochran and Malone ch. 8 - Crime:  The Policy Quagmire
    ** - Take-home essay questions for material from Weeks 1-4 - due on or before W, September 19

Week 5 - September 19
    °Cochran and Malone ch. 9 - Education Policy:  Low Grades for the National Effort
    °Cochran and Malone ch. 10 - Health Care:  Diagnosing a Chronic Problem
    °Weimer and Vining, ch. 8 - Limits to Public Intervention:  Governmental Failures

Week 6 - September 26
    °Cochran and Malone ch. 11 - Crisis in Urban and Housing Issues
    °Cochran and Malone ch. 12 - Environmental Policy:  Domestic and International Issues
    °Cochran and Malone ch. 13 - American Foreign Policy
    °Weimer and Vining, ch. 9 - Correcting Market and Government Failures:  Generic Policies

 Week 7 - October 3
    ° Weimer and Vining, ch. 10 - Landing on Your Feet:  How to Confront Policy Problems
    ° Weimer and Vining, ch. 10, Appendix 10A  - Gathering Information for Policy Analysis
    ° Weimer and Vining, ch. 11 - Goals/Alternatives Mattices:  Some Examples from CBO Studies
        
Week 8 - October 10
    ° Weimer and Vining, ch. 12 - Benefit-Cost Analysis
    ° Weimer and Vining, ch. 12, Appendix 12A - Measuring Consumer Surplus in the Presence of Income Effects (optional)
    ° Weimer and Vining, ch. 13 - Thinking Strategically About Adoption and Implementation

Week 9 - October 17
    ° Weimer and Vining, ch. 14 - Benefit-Cost Analysis in a Bureaucratic Setting:  The Strategic Petroleum Reserve
    ° Weimer and Vining, ch. 15 - When Statistics Count:  Revising the Lead Standard for Gasoline

Week 10 - October 24  **                  
    ° Weimer and Vining, ch. 16 - Doing Well and Doing Good
    ** Take-home essay questions for material from Weeks 1-4 - due on or before W, October 31

Week 11 - October 31     Presentations

Week 12 - November 7    Presentations

Week 13 - November 14    Presentations

Week 14 - November 21 - Thanksgiving Break - no class : ~)
    
Week 15 - November 28   Presentations

Week 16 - December 5  Presentations

Final Examination Week - December 12    Presentations (if necessary)

Top

Copyright©2001, Russell D. Renka
Wednesday, July 25, 2007 02:11:25 PM