Current Policy Events Log

The syllabus includes the following statement on the role of current policy-relevant events in Public Policy:

Keep tuned and informed: Digest daily a diverse menu of news media and keep a Current Policy Events Log (defined below). Get a free on-line subscription to the New York Times. The House and Senate elections occur in November and many governorships are also up in November, so policy formulation and rhetoric will intensify, and we will analyze and interpret these events together.

Your first obligation is to keep informed of current policy events through your daily reading of news sources. Further, keep a log, a written record summarizing at least three articles each week selected from newspapers, magazines, and/or on-line news sources. Do not substitute opinion articles for factual reporting. Use a dedicated tablet or binder. Your log may be handwritten or word processed, then printed and assembled in a binder. Each entry should consume a page or more but less than 300 words, and include the following elements:

  1. Title, source, date, and number of the article in your sequence;
  2. A summary of the main points;
  3. Your personal reflection on the substance and meaning of the article.

Here is how I will track your knowledge of current policy events:

  1. We will briefly discuss current policy events during each class, except when inappropriate such as during an exam or a film, and relate this discussion to the class material. I will call upon students at random and include your response as part of class participation, which counts 10 points.
  2. About 15% to 20% of the multiple choice questions in both exams will cover notable current policy events--not trivia but consequential news. Since the two exams comprise 48 points in total, current events represents approximately 8 points
  3. I will examine your log on a random basis during the course of the semester and collect and grade it at the end, counting the log as 7 points toward your final grade.

Please bring your log to each class. I will randomly inspect the individual student's log as the semester proceeds and provide feedback. I will collect your log for final grading no later than December 20.

Expect to spend about two hours per week on this assignment. I will review the progress of this assignment as the course unfolds. The log fulfills the Ramapo College curricular requirement for an experiential learning component in this course.

The Public Policy Cycle Web Site | Page: https://www.oocities.org/~profwork/pp/support/log.htm
© Wayne Hayes, Ph.D. | ™ ProfWork | wayne@profwork.com
Initialized: May 31, 2001 | Last Update: September 2, 2006