Public Policy and Administration Courses

Faculty | Master's | Courses

All courses carry 3 credits unless otherwise specified.

601 Politics and the Policy Process

Examination of the influence of political factors, including institutions and interests, on the initiation, formulation, and implementation of public policy. Examines the role of information and expertise in politics.

602 Public Management

Overview of organization theory including theories of administration, motivation, budgeting, decision making, inter- organizational relationships, and ethics. Uses case studies to provide a broad range of policy areas and organizations.

603 Public Policy Analysis

Integrates material from core courses and applies it to actual and hypothetical policy issues in many areas. Examines policy analysis methods using case studies from a wide range of substantive policy areas. Looks at social, economic, organizational, political, and other influences on policy decisions.

604 Program and Policy Evaluation

Examines the relationship between evaluation research and the development of public policy. Introduction to the principles of program evaluation and to the ways in which evaluations at all levels of government influence and are influenced by the political process.

605 Economics and Public Policy

Introduction to microeconomics theory and policy analysis. Examines economic rationales for and against government policy and the economic consequences of public policy.

606 Public Finance and Public Policy

Examines economic implications of public policy changes, and the impact of government policies on the production and distribution of resources designed to address social problems. Review of market failure, non-market failure, public expenditure analysis, taxation and tax incidence, fiscal federalism, regulation, and other topics of applied public finance.

607 Policy Methods

Introduction to methodologies for analyzing, implementing, and evaluating public policy. Topics include research methods, participant observation survey research and questionnaire construction, research design, measurement theory and practice, and framing categories.

608 Introduction to Statistical Methods for Public Policy and Administration

Introduction to basic statistics including use and interpretation of statistics used in policy research. Topics include statistical methods, descriptive statistics, probability theory, analysis of tabular data, correlation and regression, and multiple regression.

609 Workshop in Public Policy and Administration

Second-year project/seminar. Students interpret and analyze problems for public sector or non-profit clients. Also examines how problems affect public organizations, and the real constraints and opportunities that face such organizations. Small teams work on policy problems facing public organizations, then write and present a report to the seminar and the client.

622 Ethics and Public Policy

Examination of the moral and ethical dimensions of decision making in public policy and administration, including individual responsibility for collective decisions, democratic theory, multiculturalism, and theories of injustice.

630 Nonprofit Management

For students interested in pursuing careers in the nonprofit sector. Covers management topics related to human resources, financial management, and managing for mission.

631 Information Technology

The role of information technology in public and nonprofit settings. Issues related to the management of information systems. Hands-on experience in the design and development of World Wide Web systems and relational databases. Broader societal impacts of information technology.

691 Seminar

696 Independent Study

697 Special Topics

797 Special Topics