READINGS The following books available in paperback editions are required. Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point (Boston: Back Bay Books, 2000).

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1 CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO PPA 210: Political Environment of Policy Making Spring, 2005 Professor Robert Waste 3036 Tahoe Hall (office) (cell phone) Meeting time and place: Monday 6-8:50 pm, Alpine 205 Office hours: Monday 3-5 pm and by appointment OVERVIEW This course focuses mainly (although not exclusively) on the development stage of the policy process including efforts to pass secure legislation in Congress and/or state legislatures, and efforts to pass or defeat ordinances or policies by city councils and county boards of supervisors. I find legislative battles especially useful for illustrating key analytical points. However, students should remain aware that politics enters other forums and stages, including policy implementation. Additionally, we will consider in depth the ethics of political entrepreneurship, examining the obligations of entrepreneurs and the needed limits on their behavior. CONDUCT OF THE SEMINAR The term seminar is accurate. Conventional lectures will be limited and classes will be discussion oriented. While I will guide the conversation, summarize points, and draw lessons, the bulk of class time will be devoted to exchange about course topics, in-class exercises, etc. Student participation is therefore not a luxury; it is essential to a successful course. I expect that students will come to class consistently, be prepared to discuss the week s readings, and be prepared to accept special in-class assignments such as leading a critique of a particular argument from the literature. READINGS The following books available in paperback editions are required. Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point (Boston: Back Bay Books, 2000). John W. Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, paperback edition, (Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., 2nd ed., January 1997). Robert Waste, The Ecology of City Policymaking (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989). (Available free - on a one semester loan - from the professor). ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING There will be two short papers, an in-class mid-term examination, and an in-class final examination. Assignment due dates are specified in the syllabus. Course grades will be determined in accordance with the following weights: Paper #1 (life cycle, agenda setting & entrepreneur memo 1

2 due in class on Feb. 25) 15% Mid-term examination (in class on March 21) 20% Paper #2 (ethics paper due in class on April 26th) 15% Final examination (in class on May 9) 30% Class participation 20% 100% ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY The University's policy on Academic Honesty is available in full at: and should be reviewed by all students. It contains completed definitions of student's rights and responsibilities as well as cheating and plagiarism. It also specifies the faculty rights and responsibilities. It is the Department's practice that any student caught cheating or plagiarizing will automatically receive a grade of "F" for the assignment in question. Consistent with University Policy, the faculty member will have sole discretion regarding whether to pursue additional sanctions including an "F" for the course and/or referring the student to the Office of the Vice-President for Student Affairs for disciplinary action. STUDENT DISABILITY POLICY It is the responsibility of students with recognized disabilities - such as visual, communication, hearing and mobility impairment, specific learning disabilities, and other functional limitations and temporary disabilities - which may impair his/her educational progress, to bring those disabilities to the attention of the Professor. Such students are also strongly encouraged to contact the CSUS Office of Services to Students with Disabilities , (TDD), Lassen Hall 1008 and for assistance in achieving your educational objectives. MAKE-UP ASSIGNMENTS AND MISSED CLASSES Late assignments will not be accepted. At my discretion, a student who misses a deadline may be given a make-up assignment. Whether or not a penalty will be assessed depends on the reason (e.g., a family emergency constitutes a good reason; a competing requirement for another course does not). You should inform me prior to class if you must miss class on a specific day. Except under very unusual circumstances, a student who misses three classes will be penalized one entire grade (e.g., a B+ for the course will become a C+), and a student who misses more than three classes will receive a failing grade. COURSE OUTLINE I. POLITICS OF POLICY MAKING: OVERVIEW & THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK A. Kingdon, Agenda-Setting, Entrepreneurs & the Policy Life Cycle January 31 2

3 First thing first: Let s review the President s State of the Union Address and the Governor's State of the State Address (See the text of the Address in the Appendix) & apply it to class readings. Readings: Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, Chapters 1, 5 & 6. What is a triggering or focusing event? What is the policy life cycle? How may the life cycle be used to explain the politics of public policy formation? What is the distinction between conditions and problems? Why is this distinction important? Why do some focusing events have a bigger impact than others? B. Policy Entrepreneurs, their Strategies, Containment Mechanisms Used Against Them February 7 Readings: Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, Chapter 8 Waste, Ecology, Chapters 1 & 2; Gladwell, Chapters The Three Rules of Epidemics, the Law of the Few (Connectors, Mavens & Salesmen), & The Stickiness Factor How do entrepreneurs push forward policy ideas? What are different styles or strategies used by policy entrepreneurs? How are entrepreneurs stopped or their policy initiatives contained? February 14 One-on-One with a Policy Entrepreneur: Guest Speakers: To Be Announced. February 21 - No Class- Spring Break Systems Thinking & Drawing Causal Loops: A tool for Understanding the Dynamics of Policymaking Politics February 28 Readings Read John Shibley, "Tips on Drawing Causal Loops" at the Internet location: 3

4 II. DIGGING A LITTLE DEEPER INTO THE POLICY/POLITICS STREAM: THE CURIOUS CASE OF CRISES, DISASTERS & SCANDALS Crisis as Usual California s Semi-Permanent State of Crisis (Budget, Energy, Water, Earthquakes, Fires, Ag Pests & Ag Epidemics, Urban Race/Class Riots), Big Ticket Natural Disasters, & Runners-Up ( Potential Focusing Events ) What s Up with This? March 7 Guest Speaker: To Be Announced. Readings: Two articles on Tom Birkland s disaster potential focusing event thesis (Handout). Gladwell, Chapters 4 & 5. Why do some crises become major policy/politics crises while others of even larger scope remain only potential focusing events? How do you raise "regional" issues in the context of "local" politics? C. Special Cases: The Scandal-Reform Cycle & the Clientele-Capture Thesis Gladwell's Case Studies Reading Waste, Ecology, Chapter 5. Gladwell, Chapters 6 & 7 March 14 Review for Next Week s In-Class Midterm Exam. Why is the time immediately following a scandal a dangerous time to attempt reform policy? Is Bernstein correct in arguing that regulatory policy & regulatory bodies tend to decline? How do changes in the public mood create opportunities and dangers for policy entrepreneurs? March 28 Mid-Term Exam during Class April 4 III. CONTEXT, ECONOMICS, RATIONALITY, INCEMENTALISM & GARGAGE CAN MODELS AS MEDIATING INFLUENCES ON POLICY POLITICS A. Is Paul Peterson Wrong? Does economics determine or shape policy outcomes? Finally, let s consider the fit between the politics of policymaking and traditional views of the policymaking process, including the rational-comprehensive view, incrementalism and garbage can models AND B. Age, Locale, Political Culture & the Politics of Policymaking 4

5 Reading Waste, Ecology, Chapters 3 & 4 Waste, City Limits, Pluralism, and Urban Political Economy, Journal of Urban Affairs (Handout). Kingdon, Agendas, Chapter 4. Gladwell, Chapter 7 What is the key point of the economic determinist argument of Harvard s Paul Peterson? What are the implications of the policy stepladder model for understanding or failing to understand the state and local policy process in California? IV. WRAPPING UP THE KINGDON & GLADWELL MODELS OF POLICY POLITICS A. Wrapping Up the Kingdon Model (Part I): The Policy Community, Primeval Soup & the Political Stream Wrapping Up Gladwell, (Read Chapter 8). April 11 Readings, Kingdon, Agendas, Chapters 6 & 7. Guest Speaker: To Be Announced. In Kingdon s terms, what is the role of the professional policy analyst relative to the political stream and the primeval soup? Put differently, Professor Nancy Shulock has asked a fascinating question, namely: If as frequently seems the case - policy analysts have so little influence on policies actually adopted, why are our reports, opinions and estimates so frequently sought out by policymakers? B. Wrapping Up the Kingdon Model (Part II): Coupling, Windows, Hidden Participants, Policy Streams, Policy Windows, Randomness & Patterns April 18 Reading Kingdon, Agendas, Chapters 9 & 10. V. ETHICS, ADMINISTRATIVE DISCRETION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP A. Analysts, Politics, Policymaking & Ethics: The Art and Risks of Ethical Argumentation, and Ethical Intervention April 25 Bring a beverage of your choice. I ll provide the popcorn. We re going to settle in, watch Twelve Angry Men - one of the greatest movies on ethics, communication, small group interaction, and decision-making of all time - and discuss the movie. If the jurors in Twelve Angry Men made a good decision, why did this happen? What exactly is deliberation, and how would we know it when we see it? 5

6 Why should we care if policy makers deliberate? May 2 Can Government "Institutionalize Ethics" - Embed It Directly Into the Political/Policy Process? Let's Look at the California Little Hoover Commission Invited Guest Speaker James Meyer, Director, Little Hoover Commission May 9 Paper #2 (ethics paper) due. VI. IN-CLASS FINAL EXAM - May 9 6