Public Policy Programs

Faculty

• SARAH MICHAELS, Professor
  Ph.D. University of Colorado, 1990.
  Fields: Water Resourses, Science-Policy Interface, and Comparative Environmental Policy

• KEVIN SMITH, Professor
  Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1994.
  Fields: Public policy, Public Administration, American Politics

Public Policy Certificate Programs
The Department offers both an undergraduate and graduate certificate in policy analysis. Students take core courses in public policy in political science and a number of electives from other disciplines including history, sociology, psychology, and economics.

For more information or to enroll in the certificate program, contact:

Undergraduate Courses

POLS 210, PS 210x. Bureaucracy and the American Political System (3 cr) [ES]
Introductory survey to the administrative arm of American national, state, and local government. Bureaucracy has become so important to the functioning of the federal system it has been termed "the fourth branch of government." Bureaucracy's role as a political institution of the first order, not just as an implementer of policy. Bureaucratic power, structure, and democratic control.

POLS 234. Government Regulation (3 cr) [IS]
Development of regulatory agencies, their functions, intended and unintended impact, and organizational and philosophical critiques of existing regulation. Relationship of regulation to the constitutional separation of powers and tenets of democracy explored. Questions of democratic accountability and other aspects of political context in which regulatory agencies operate. Proposed reforms evaluated.

POLS 235. Public Policy: Concepts and Processes (3 cr)
Basic policy theories and the policy process, paying special attention to key events that create or prevent policy opportunities and problems that arise throughout the policy process. Substantive policy issues used to illustrate the various concepts and process models.

POLS 236. Public Policy Analysis: Methods and Models (3 cr) [IS]
Approaches to public policy analysis. The nature of politics and policy with emphasis on the role of the citizen, uses of information types in the formation of public policy, the analysis of policy content, and the problems of training for policy analysis. Basic policy analysis methods including interviewing participant observation, document analysis, and surveying.

POLS 395. Internship in Political Science (3 cr)
Internship in government agencies, government offices, interest groups, political parties, non profit and other organizations. Prereq: Junior standing and 12 hours in political science, or permission. P/N only. Student assigned and supervised by faculty director.

POLS 410. The Administrative Process (3 cr) [IS]
Interdisciplinary examination of the internal dynamics of public and private organizations.

POLS 414/814. Intergovernmental Relations (3 cr)
Analysis of the nature and problems of the American federal system, with emphasis on the politics and administration of federal grants; problems in national-state and national-local governmental coordination in administration.

POLS 417. Policy and Program Evaluation Research (SOCI 468/868) (3 cr)
Techniques useful for research aiding in policy making and for assessing the impact of policy. Acquaints student with the role of research in policy formation and evaluation and to give the student experience in conducting such research.

POLS 426. Topics in American Public Policy (3 cr) [IS]
Focuses on a significant public policy in American politics. Topics include but are not limited to: science; technology; education; and health politics. This course may be taken twice assuming the specific policy covered is not the same.

POLS 471. Comparative Public Policy: A Cross-National Approach (3 cr)
Various approaches to public policy outside the United States with emphasis on Western industrial societies. Includes policy formation and the various factors that influence policy outputs, the relationship between policy outputs and policy outcomes, efforts to classify and evaluate various types of policy outputs, and the influence of policy on politics.

Graduate Courses

POLS 831. Core Seminar in Public Policy (3 cr)
Focuses on the field of public policy including the following: theoretical frameworks, the role of institutions in the policy process, and the motivations of policy actors.

POLS 836. Public Policy Analysis: Methods and Models (3 cr)
Explores both qualitative and quantitative approaches to public policy analysis. Topics include the nature of politics and policy, the formation of public policy, the analysis of policy content, methodological triangulation, participatory policy making designs, and the role of the policy analyst.

POLS 931. Seminar in Public Policy (3 cr maximum 12)
Topics include, but are not limited to, agriculture, cities, education, environment, health, and rural communities.