Description
This course provides students with perspective on how policies are put into practice after being passed by legislative or executive bodies. Students begin by learning about broad, basic theories of top-down and bottom-up government, as well as the role of organizational design on the implementation of public policies. We then examine several case studies in key policy areas and investigate how policy implementation is influenced by a number of factors, such as overlapping and conflicting pieces of legislation, goal coherence in agencies, agency collaboration, the presence of performance targets, the ability to observe agency outputs and outcomes, relationships with private contractors, changes in agency managers and changes in agency organization.
The course offers an applied, problem-based approach blending theory and practice and incorporating reading materials, case studies, research, presentations, and examples on a variety of public organizations and policy domains. The active participation of each student in class discussions is integral for the design of this course. Therefore, it is crucial that students prepare the assigned material for every class.
Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 19th August 2024.
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