This course will review and analyze various strategies and methods for assessing the political feasibility of implementing public policies at the federal, state and local levels.
Enacting public policy is a dynamic process because of the changing nature of the political environment. Developing and implementing successful public policies requires an array of strategic approaches, skills and resources, while understanding the importance of timing and key pressure points in the political system.
This course will review and analyze successful and unsuccessful campaigns to bring about public policy change. We will examine key elements and variables to help develop and implement winning public policy strategies.
Students will analyze various types of policy domains at the legislative, executive and bureaucratic levels. They will evaluate indirect policy makers outside of government such as lobbyists, public interest groups, unions, media, public relations firms, business groups, faith-based organizations and individual activists.
Students will review various strategies that are used to develop and implement public policies such as inclusionary, exclusionary and persuasive. Students will be required to examine successful and unsuccessful strategies by researching various real world case studies at all governmental levels.
By the end of the course, students will be adept at assessing the political feasibility of implementing current public policies under debate at all levels of government.
Reading materials for the course will be numerous Harvard Kennedy School of Government policy case studies, chapter readings from numerous books and articles. Students will be required to remain current on the hot policy topics in play national as well as at the state and local government levels.
The structure for course will be utilizing study groups and making class presentations on the analysis of winning and losing public policy strategies.
Guest speakers invited will include legislators, lobbyists, bureaucrats, journalists, business leaders, union representatives and public interest groups.
For further information contact: Ron Gibbs, Adjunct Professor, Harris School Public Policy Studies, rgibbs@uchicago.edu or 312-543-1455.
