Public Policy Minor Courses & Descriptions

PBPL 81.2/GOVT 81.04: Lawyers and Public Policy syllabus
Professor Carol Bohmer 08W, 09W, 10W: 10A

Using historical, sociological, political, and legal sources, this seminar explores the role of lawyers in the creation of public policy in the United States. Lawyers have a professional obligation to zealously advocate the interests of their individual clients, yet also to pursue justice and the public good. How have American lawyers resolved the tension between these two obligations? What strategies have interest group lawyers used to achieve change in public policy and with what consequences? How have legal organizations (e.g., the American Bar Association, the American Trial Lawyers Association) sought to preserve or change American public policies? Readings will include studies of lawyers in the New Deal, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Right to Life lawyers, AFL-CIO lawyers, and others. Enrollment limited to 16. also listed as Public Policy 81. Prerequisite: at least one course on law or public policy.

PBPL 81.3: Urban Politics and Public Policymaking syllabus
Professor Peter Burns 08S: 2A

This course examines how and why cities attempt to address the problems that face them. It investigates who makes public policy in cities and why. The course then considers how and why these actors make policy. The final part of this class analyzes the effects of these policies. The class focuses upon urban education, housing, public safety, economic development, and other policy areas of significance to urban governments, with focused attention on post-Katrina New Orleans.

PBPL 81.5/ SOCY 39: Poverty, the New Economy, and Employment Policy syllabus
Professor Matissa Hollister 08W, 09W: 2A

The most obvious solution to the problem of poverty is to give someone a job. More than four decades of employment programs have shown, however, that this is not as easy as it sounds. Recent changes in the economy (downsizing, globalization, technological change) make this situation even more challenging. This course examines the past and future of employment policies as poverty alleviation strategies. It brings together theories of poverty and employment, an analysis of current trends in the economy, and an overview of past and current employment programs.

PBPL 81.7/ ANTH 16: Secrecy and Lying in Law, Society, and Politics syllabus
Professor Dale Eickelman 08X: 10A

Claims to secret knowledge—in families, organizations, and states—is a form of authority over those who do not possess it. This seminar explores how claims to secret knowledge and lying relate to the institutional and cultural frameworks in which knowledge is produced, the use of “leaks” to challenge hierarchical controls and sometimes sustain them, and the ways in which secrecy, deception, and lying form a necessary and often desirable part of social, political, and economic life.

PBPL 81.8: Public Education Policy syllabus
Professor Parama Chaudhury 09S: 10A

The seminar will examine state and federal roles in educational policy and familiarize students with key policy options at the local levels. The major section throughout the term examines education in America, its history, periods of reform, problems, practices and policies. A second section focuses upon generating an understanding and appreciation of how a suburban community works and how policy is formulated and implemented. A third section requires actual time and engagement in the schools including attendance at school board meetings; interviews with school officials; conversations with teachers, parents and students focusing on school policies. The concluding section requires research and analysis by three groups or teams of students who will identify a significant policy suggested by their earlier study in the course.

PBPL 81.9/ GOVT 83.02: Politics and Markets syllabus
Linda Fowler 08W, 08F, 09F: 3A

Someone once said, there is a place for the market, and the market must be kept in its place. In this course, we explore the policy debates in the U.S. over the proper role of government in promoting market efficiency and protecting citizens from the adverse consequences of market competition. We begin with an effort to define the scope of the private and public sectors. We then consider an array of policy instruments to correct market failures and redistribute income. Finally, we examine the use of market-oriented approaches to policy problems, such as cost-benefit analysis, vouchers, and pollution rights.

PBPL 82.1: The Policy of Crime and Punishment syllabus
Professor Larry Crocker 07W: 10A

This course will examine the theory and policy of criminal justice and punishment from philosophical, legal, and criminological perspectives. It will take up, among others, the following questions: What is the moral basis for taking the liberty or life of another human been as punishment? Must the punishment be deserved? How is desert determined? Must the offender receive the deserved penalty even if that penalty would make no contribution to the control of crime? Is it sufficient justification for a given sentence that the defendant knew or could easily have known the approximate penalty before deciding to commit the offense? Has the Eighth Amendment limitation on the severity of punishments been properly interpreted? Does justice require further limitations? Does justice require that there be lower limits on the severity of punishment for certain serious offenses?

PBPL 82.4/SOCY 39: Organizations and Public Policy syllabus
Professor Melissa Wooten 07S: 10A

Although many view the relationship between organizations and public policy as fairly static, it is dynamic and complex. Organizations may take an active role in forming public policy and in shaping the definition of compliance to public policy. By focusing on topics ranging from anti-trust regulation, civil rights employment legislation, incorporation laws, and more, emphasis is placed on understanding the joint influence of organizations and governmental authorities on the public policy process.

PBPL 83.2/ GOVT 85.14: Economics and Security in U.S. Foreign Policy
Professor Stephen Brooks 07F: 2A

This course explores the role of economics and security in international relations theory. Special attention will be devoted to exploring how changes in the international economy are likely to influence the security behavior of states. Prerequisites: Govt. 5 and at least one midlevel IR course.

PBPL 84.2: Health Policy Reform syllabus
Professor Rob Sprinkle 08W: 2A

Students will analyze current American health-policy reform proposals, judging their substance and devising variations and replacements. The histories of modern issues will be reviewed and a health-policy problem list created, its entries distributed for analysis to individual students. Projects will proceed in parallel, with lessons learned shared at each meeting, while readings and discussions will explicate factors shaping policy and constraining innovation. A closing exercise will assess student proposals for complementarity and reconcilability.

PBPL 84.3/ENVS 80: Valuing the Environment: Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy syllabus
Professor Richard Howarth 07S: 2A

This course explores the role of values in environmental policy and management. It begins with an overview of core concepts from moral philosophy and their application in debates over animal rights, "deep ecology," and Aldo Leopold's land ethic. It then examines the use of formal techniques such as cost-benefit analysis, risk assessment, and decision analysis in evaluating tradeoffs between the multiple objectives of environmental policy. The course concludes by considering how the concept of "sustainability" is linked to issues of intergenerational fairness and participatory governance. Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on practical applications to issues such as ecological conservation, pollution control policy, and global environmental change. Prerequisites: A previous course in microeconomics (Economics 1) or environmental economics (Environmental Studies/Economics 55 or 56) is strongly recommended.

PBPL 84.4: Science and Technology Policy syllabus
Professor William O'Neal 08S: 10A

The course will provide an analysis of science and technology policy in the United States. Institutionalized in what are known as “R&D budgets,” science and technology policies have become means of confronting the fundamental challenges to our quality of life (e.g., security, environment, health). Federal agencies are entrusted with translating scientific research into policy solutions that benefit society. This course examines that process of translation – the interplay of interests through the apparatus of government to produce “public policy.” p>

PBPL 91: Independent Study in Public Policy
Professor Ronald Shaiko All terms: Arrange

This course offers an opportunity for a student enrolled in the Public Policy Minor to do advanced, independent work under the direction of a faculty member in the area of public policy. The topic under study may relate to prior coursework in the Public Policy Minor, an off-campus internship, or a co-curricular activity sponsored by the Rockefeller Center. All students enrolled in Public Policy 91 in a given term should expect to meet regularly together for classroom instruction and discussion with Rockefeller Center faculty and staff. To enroll, a student must prepare a brief proposal that describes the topic to be studied, its relationship to the student's prior public policy courses or activities, and the student's goals for undertaking the research. Prerequisites: Public Policy 5 and the Research Methods course prerequisite to the Public Policy Minor.

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