This course will explore the process by which the preferences of individuals are converted into public policy. Also included will be an examination of the complexity of policy problems, methods for designing better policies, and a review of tools used by analysts and policy makers. Prerequisite: PS 10 or 11.

In this course, students will use their knowledge of the political and economic foundations of public policy making to conduct research in a wide variety of public policy problems. Prerequisite: PS 160AA.

The purpose of the course is to examine how the referendum, initiative, and recall (direct legislation) are used to determine policy. The class will survey the historical and contemporary direct legislation literature in order to understand the popular and academic debate concerning direct legislation’s use.

This course will explore contemporary environmental issues such as global warming, endangered species, and land us. Students will be asked to analyze various policy options and to write case analyses. Policies may be debated in class.

Politics is largely about combining individual preferences and decisions into collective choices. This course will analyze issues involved in aggregating individual preferences and in the choices of rules--formal or informal--for doing so.

An undergraduate course designed to cover various aspects of policy analysis.

This course examines the building of the welfare state in the twentieth century. Topics include the legacy of progressivism, the New Deal and Great Society; Reaganite retrenchment; social programs, party and electoral dynamics; and the welfare state’s impact on groups and the class structure.

Students are asked to analyze various policy options related to contemporary American policy issues. Students are also required to do directed research on policy issues, to write case analyses based on their findings, and to debate policy alternatives in class. Prerequisite: PS 10 or 11.

The use of real data to assess policy alternatives. Introduction to benefit/cost analysis, decision theory, and the valuation of public goods. Applications to health, environmental, and regulatory economic policy making.

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