Public Policy Schedule: Fall, 2009 | V. 1.4
Professor Wayne Hayes, ENST20701

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TOC: Key Dates, Part I, Part II

Important Dates ^

The Academic Calendar for the Fall 2009 semester displays important dates to keep in mind. Please note the due dates for ENST20701 below:

Note: Please check the course wiki-based Bulletin Board before each class.

Introduction to the Course ^

September 14: Syllabus, Schedule, Web Site, Roster, and Course Management

  1. Introductions, yours and mine
  2. Roster check
  3. Syllabus distributed and reviewed, expectations and responsibilities explained.
  4. Schedule and Bulletin Board previewed
  5. Overview of course goals, flow, theory, and content. How to do well: Tips and traps.
  6. Q. and A.

ThePublic Policy Cycle

September 21 Part I: Introduction To Public Policy

  1. Cases: the Summers World Bank memo: discussion and critique; contrast with Tom Friedman, Real Men Tax Gas, New York Times 9/20/2009.
  2. Introduction
  3. Orientation
  4. Premises
  5. The limits to public policy
  6. The legacy of Malthus: public policy as the dismal science
  7. A brief word on ideology in public policy
  8. Overview of the concept of paradigm from my wiki: see the slide show
  9. Trial run: The World's Smallest Political Quiz -- see Wikipedia for background --- and, time permitting, What is your political ideology?, another web-based public policy quiz game
  10. Discussion of contemporary policy context, with emphasis on the economy and health care

September 28 Part II: How to study Public Policy

If you celebrate Yom Kippur, please inform me and appropriate adjustments will be made.

  1. Introducing the study of public policy
  2. Why study public policy?
  3. The scope of public policy
  4. What are the general approaches to public policy and which is adopted here?
  5. Definitions of public policy
  6. How to study public policy
  7. The public policy cycle as a method

October 5: Agenda Setting and Power

  1. Introduction to agenda setting
  2. Setting the agenda
  3. Definitions: simple and explanatory
  4. Agenda typology
  5. Who sets the agenda and how
  6. How to study the agenda
  7. Bias and the exercise of power
  8. Read my brief wiki page on the origin of the term development and the Truman Doctrine.
  9. Review the executive summary of the Brundtland Commission Report that put Sustainable Development on the international agenda. For a synopsis, see my wiki page on the origins and the implications of Sustainable Development.

October 12: Formulation I

Essay on Introduction, How to Study Public Policy, and Agenda. Counts 16 points. See definition and instructions on the wiki page. Send essay as an attachment to wkhayes@gmail.com. Due by the end of the day, October 12.

  1. Transition from agenda to policy formulation
  2. Introduction to policy formulation
  3. Defining policy formulation
  4. Skills of policy analysis
  5. The foundations of American public policy making
  6. Example of the political manipulation of intelligence analysis and roles within intelligence community
  7. Illustrative cases, including Ramapo College Mission Statement
  8. Please view Bill Moyers America: Capitol Crimes, Public affairs Television, 2006.
  9. Read about the Bolso Familia Program of the World Bank and Latin America Pioneers an Anti-Poverty Program That Works from McClatchy news service, a superb but overlooked source of current events.

October 19: Formulation II: Policy Authorization

  1. Politics and policy formulation
  2. Case study: Stephen Labaton, Midnight Talks Close Deal on Financial Overhaul, New York Times, October 23, 1999, handout
  3. Case study: Gail Russell Chaddick, Critical Energy Bill Crafted in Secrecy, Christian Science Monitor, October 2, 2003.
  4. Iron triangles
  5. Incrementalism
  6. Policy overhaul
  7. Film: H.R. 2121: An Act of Congress, with discussion
  8. Return essay exams and discuss

October 26: Implementation

  1. Introduction to implementation
  2. Note cartoon reflecting implementation
  3. Defining implementation. Discussion: Can implementation work well?
  4. Cases of implementation, good and bad
  5. Traditional Public Administration | bureaucracy
  6. Successful Implementation: Liberal and Conservative views
  7. Return mid-term exam and review.

November 2: Budget

  1. Budget overview
  2. Define budget
  3. The budgetary process
  4. Overall discussion of US budget and examination of significant summary tables, especially Table S-7, Budget Summary by Categories
  5. Try a sophisticated budget simulation--it may surprise you
  6. Incrementalism, once again
  7. State and local budgets, with emphasis on current state budget stress

November 9: Evaluation & Review

  1. Transition: closing the loop
  2. Introduction to evaluation
  3. Evaluation defined
  4. Evaluation explained in context
  5. Explanatory cases of evaluation
  6. Historical roots of evaluation research
  7. Formal evaluation
  8. Informal evaluation
  9. Review for exam

November 16: Exam

Exam on Public Policy Cycle, multiple choice and essay format, counts 32% of grade.

We will the groups and projects on Brown for the first part of this session, then I will present the exam:

  1. Part I: multiple-choice, Part II of course
  2. Part II: essay on the public policy cycle

Part III: World Sustainability Policy ^

This section of the course examines public policy aspects of sustainability. The main text is Lester Brown, Plan B 3.0, supplemented with notes from the instructor and links to the Internet. This section culminates with a research report on sustainability policy.

November 23: Sustainable Development

This section sets the stage and introduces Sustainable Development:

  1. See Professor Hayes's wiki on Brundtland Commission Report and Sustainable Development, originally developed for World Sustainability, ENST209.
  2. Browse the Brundtland Report and sample its findings and logic. This is a seminal historical document, so browse to get the tone, substance, and organization of the report -- don't even try to read the whole document, be selective.
  3. Read the important Overview, noting the way that sustainable development was framed and the language used to define sustainable development, quoted below. Read the Brundtland section on sustainable development carefully. This section is short and important.
  4. Note the time lines and background on Sustainable Development.
  5. View a speech by Lester Brown
  6. Lester R. Brown, Plan B 3.0: Preface and Ch. 1, Entering a New World, pp. 1-18
  7. Wayne Hayes, Overview of Brown: Lecture Notes

November 30: Setting a Global Agenda

Part I of Plan B 3.0 offers Brown's agenda and comprehensively defines the global crisis. This analysis is empirical and current. Read this section closely in week four to assess the global crisis and grasp an agenda that could frame a policy response:

  1. Lester R. Brown, Plan B 3.0: Ch. 2, Beyond the Oil Peak, pp. 21-40
  2. Presentation of notes on Plan B 3.0: Ch. 2, Beyond the Oil Peak
  3. Play The U.S. Oil Policy Simulation
  4. Lester R. Brown, Plan B 3.0: Ch. 3, Emerging Water Shortages, pp. 41-58
  5. Lester R. Brown, Plan B 3.0: Ch. 4, Rising Temperatures and Rising Seas, pp. 59-78
  6. Wayne Hayes, Notes on Global Warming
  7. Brown, Ch. 5, Natural Systems Under Stress, pp. 79-98
  8. Wayne Hayes, Notes on Natural Systems Under Stress
  9. Lester R. Brown, Plan B 3.0: Ch. 6, Early Signs of Decline, pp. 99-120
  10. Wayne Hayes, Notes on The Social Divide

December 7 - 14:Formulating An Earth Restoration Policy

Please study the policy remedies explained by Lester Brown:

  1. Wayne Hayes: Presentation of Plan B
  2. Lester R. Brown, Plan B 3.0: Ch. 8, Restoring the Earth, pp. 142-162
  3. We will view PBS Wide Angle: The Burning Season.
  4. Lester R. Brown, Plan B 3.0: Ch. 9, Feeding Seven Billion People Well, pp. 163-181
  5. Lester R. Brown, Plan B 3.0: Ch. 10, Stabilizing Climate, pp. 182-203
  6. Lester R. Brown, Plan B 3.0: Ch. 11, Designing Sustainable Cities, pp. 204-224

December 21:Final Report Due (no class)

The final report counts as 32 points and is due by December 21, but can be transmitted in advance. I will be in our classroom at our regular time, 6:00 PM, to assist should you have problems. I will depart by 6:30 P.M., however. See the memo on the final report for the assignment.

The Public Policy Cycle Web Site | Page: © Wayne Hayes, Ph.D. | ™ ProfWork | wayne@profwork.com
Initialized: 5/22/2001 | Last Update: 10/18/2009