Looking for a Spring 2011 Public Policy Course? Explore Law, Health Policy, or Leadership

PBPL 26: Health Policy and Clinical Practice
Professor Gilbert Welch, MD, MPH, 11S: 10

Health care in the United States costs more than in other countries, but is it better? Answering this question requires understanding a wide range of subjects, including the pathophysiology of disease, clinical decision making, epidemiology, and public policy. This course provides an introduction to these tools. We will also consider additional questions: Is more screening & early diagnosis the best way to stay healthy? Does more treatment always help people feel better? And how has the "Dartmouth School" of health policy contributed to the debate? Dist: SOC; WCult: W.

PBPL 28/GOVT 30.03: Law, Courts and Public Policy
Professors Serena Laws and David Glick, 11S: 2A

Many critics see judges as “policy makers in robes” while others, perhaps naively, would never think of judges as “policy makers.” In this course we will investigate the role that legal institutions, particularly courts, play in public policy making. We will think about the similarities and differences between courts and other political institutions in the policy making process. The course considers questions such as: What role do practical policy considerations play in judicial decision making? How can groups use courts to pursue public policy change? How much impact do courts and judges have on policy outcomes on the ground? Do courts have the capacity to make good public policy, and is judicial policy making desirable? We will address these questions by looking at the U.S. Supreme Court as well as lower courts, and will examine a variety of substantive applications including educational funding, tobacco regulation, and campaign finance. The class is open to students who have taken PBPL 5, and counts toward the Law and Public Policy track of the Public Policy Minor.  Prerequisite: PBPL 5. Dist: SOC; WCult: W.

PBPL 51: Leadership in Civil Society
Professor Ron Shaiko, 11S: 10A

This course will focus on those aspects of leadership that are directly applicable to the accumulation and utilization of social capital through the various organizational manifestations of civil society. Students will explore the broad literature on nonprofit leadership as well as the more targeted literatures that address grassroots mobilization, religious (lay/servant) leadership, interest group influence, organizational maintenance and political representation, and the leadership problems associated with collective action. In addition, the course will focus on the roles of political parties as aggregators of societal interests and as intermediaries between citizens and the state. The various roles of the news media in civil society will also be critically analyzed in order to evaluate the leadership capacity of news organizations in providing the information necessary to participate in American society as informed citizens. Dist: SOC; WCult: W.