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SYLLABUS
Course: Political Science 440 (Public Policy Analysis, Spring 2007)
Instructor: Craig Curtis (Bradley Hall 486, 677-2492, e-mail: rcc@bradley.edu) Home page: http://hilltop.bradley.edu/~rcc/
Texts: Peters, B. Guy American Public Policy: Promise and Performance (7th
edition, 2007) CQ Press (ISBN
1933116749)
Rose, Melody Safe, Legal, and
Unavailable? Abortion Politics in the
Class Meeting Information: MWF, 10:00 to 10:50 am, Br 370
Instructor's Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday: 2:00 to 3:00 pm, Tuesday and Thursday, 9:00 to 11:00 am
Description: This course is designed to introduce you to the basics of public policy analysis. Our focus will be primarily on the American national government, although state or local government policies may be considered. This is not a statistics course; however, some knowledge of basic social science methods will be needed. We will learn how public policy is made, how it is implemented and how it is evaluated. It is important to consider that all public polices have, as their goal, the alteration of behavior of entities in the system. Thus, consideration of the underlying rationale, or behavioral assumptions, of the policy is crucial. Additionally, once policy is enacted, implementation can fundamentally change the substance of the policy, or render the policy without effect. Thus, consideration of whether a policy failure represents a failure of theory or of implementation is essential.
Grading: The final Grade will be based on the following:
1) 2 take home projects given during the course of the semester, each worth 30%
of the final grade.
2) A final take home project, worth 30% of the final grade. The final
project is due in my office no later than Saturday, May 12, 2007 at 11:00
am. No late essays will be accepted!
3) Class participation and attendance -- 10%.
The final letter grade will be assigned according to the following scale:
|
A 90-100% |
D 60-69% |
|
B 80-89% |
F below 60% |
|
C 70-79% |
|
Class policies: This is a small class, and it is being held in a multi-media classroom. These two facts will alter the way in which the course is conducted. Small group dynamics are different than large group dynamics, and I will try to take advantage of this by emphasizing interactions between students and myself. Please prepare carefully, and bring questions about current events that are relevant to class with you. The use of power point will force me to prepare for class well in advance, and I will try to have carefully prepared lectures, but, at times, the needs of the class will require that I depart from the script. Bear with me when this happens, because the power point presentation software is dependent on advance preparation. Variations from the prepared lectures may result in a reversion to the old chalkboard technology. I will post outlines of lectures in the digital drop box area of Blackboard the week before we cover that material.
Fridays will be policy wonk days – days when we talk about current policy disputes. I will try to make sure that the ones I choose are relevant to the material for that week, but will listen to your suggestions for what policies we take up on these days.
The focus on policy outputs, as opposed to the institutions that make policy, may well require you to change the way you think about political science. The unit of analysis is commonly the individual person or organizational entity. Common sense impression of how these entities behave will likely be based on anecdotal evidence. The conclusions drawn from empirical data may be counterintuitive. In this class we will trust the data. During the course of this class, I will certainly introduce concepts and use words with which you are not familiar. I will try to anticipate these occasions and provide explanations; however, it is virtually inevitable that I will assume that you know something that you do not. Stop me when I do this and ask for any explanation! Others are likely in the same situation, and you will help them as well as yourself.
The due dates for the assignments that are listed in this syllabus are
subject to change if the needs of the class so indicate;
but the final assignment is dictated by university policy and may not be
changed. Any changes in the first two
assignments will be made by the instructor in consultation with the
class. Please take into account that I take these due dates seriously.
Week I (W 1-24) Introduction and Housekeeping Chores (Policy wonk topic – earmarks!)
Week II (M 1-29) What is policy? Peters, Chs 1 & 2
Week III (M 2-5) Agenda setting and enactment, Peters, Chs 3 & 4
Week IV (M 2-12) Implementation, Peters, Ch 5
Week V (M 2-19) Budgeting, Peters Ch 6
Week VI (M 2-26)
Policy Evaluation, Peters Ch 7
First take home project posted on 2-28
Week VII (M 3-5) Policy Analysis, Peters Chs 16 & 17
Week VIII (M 3-12) Economic and Tax Policy, Peters Chs 8 & 9
First take home project due on 3-12
Spring Break
Week IX (M 3-26) Health Care and Welfare, Peters, Chs 10 & 11
Week X (M 4-2) Education and the Environment, Peters Chs 12 & 13
Week XI (M 4-9) Defense and Crime, Petersm Ch 14
Second take home project posted on 4-11
Week XII (M 4-16) Abortion and the Culture Wars, Peters, Ch 15, Rose, Introduction and Ch 1
Second take home project due on 4-20
Week XIII (M 4-23) Abortion and the
Law, Rose, Chs 3 & 4
Week XIV (M 4-30) Abortion as a “wedge” issue, Rose, Chs 5, 6, & 7
Final take home project posted before 5-4
Week XV (M 5-7) Final thoughts and discussion
of the final take home assignment
Final take home project: Due on Saturday, May 12, 2007, at 11:00
am. No late papers will be accepted!
Take Home Projects
Because this is a small class, traditional tests will not be administered. We will, instead, use take-home projects. Typically, you will be given the assignment, which consists of one fact scenario, and you will have a week to work on it. I will gladly answer questions about the assignment during the week. The final project will be conducted in this same fashion.
For the first project, I will post the assignment two weeks before it is due and will review rough drafts if they are given to me at or before the class session on March 5.
These essays must be printed on a word processor with standard fonts and margins. I expect that a bibliography will be included and that a standard social science reference format will be followed. If you are unsure of how to properly cite, follow the format used in one of the major political science journals, such as the American Political Science Review.
Guidelines for all Assignments
Any instance of academic dishonesty, e.g., cheating on exams or plagiarism of term papers, will be dealt with as severely as university rules allow.
Any attempt to secure the exclusive use of library resources, i.e., hiding or removing from the library any books or journals, or intentional destruction of library materials, i.e., cutting out articles, will be punished severely. You will receive zero credit for the assignment, and the matter will be reported to the library and to the Executive Director of Housing, Residential Life and Student Judicial System. You will be held liable for repair or replacement of the materials.
You are expected to do your own work on your review essay. Plagiarism will be punished as severely as university rules allow, i.e., a zero for the paper will be awarded and the matter will be reported to the Chair of Political Science and the Executive Director of Housing, Residential Life and Student Judicial System. Plagiarism, according to the Random House Dictionary of the English Language (unabridged edition), means "appropriation or imitation of the language, ideas and thoughts of another author, and representation of them as one's own work." Any of the following examples of academic dishonesty constitutes plagiarism:
1. Directly copying a phrase, sentence, passage or paragraph from another author and presenting it as one's own (i.e., without proper quotation marks and full citation -- you are assumed to know how to properly use quotation marks and citations) is plagiarism. Copying text from the book in an open book exam without proper use of quotations and appropriate citation is plagiarism.
2. Paraphrasing a sentence, passage or paragraph from another author without so indicating by proper citation to authority. When in doubt, cite!
3. Knowingly presenting, as one's own, a thought, idea, analytical framework, or theory advanced by another author. Turning in a term paper you did not write, e.g., one you bought, copied or downloaded off of the internet, is plagiarism.
Note: Turning in the same paper to more than one professor (using the same paper to fulfill more than one assignment), without preclearance from both professors, is considered to be an instance of academic dishonesty. I am well aware that there are Web sites with papers that you can download and have the ability to check to see if a paper comes from such a source. I am also aware that many high school students learn to write papers by cutting and pasting text from web sites. Whenever you use language written by someone else, you must fully credit the author by a complete citation. Try to limit the use of direct quotes in any event. I want your words, not a bunch of related quotations.