POLC66H PUBLIC POLICY-MAKING. University of Toronto at Scarborough Department of Social Sciences. Fall 2008 Tuesday, 11:00-1:00 Room HW 216

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1 POLC66H PUBLIC POLICY-MAKING University of Toronto at Scarborough Department of Social Sciences Fall 2008 Tuesday, 11:00-1:00 Room HW 216 Instructor: Dr. Phil Triadafilopoulos Office: BV438 Telephone: (416) Office Hours: Tuesday 10:30-11:30 AM, 2:00-3:00 PM; Thursday 10:00 AM -12:00 Noon; or by appointment Course Description This course introduces students to the study of public policy-making. We survey contending theories of public policy, identify key actors and institutions, and review a range of policy instruments used in addressing public problems. We also consider theories of agenda setting, policy formulation, decision-making, implementation, and evaluation/learning. We conclude with discussions on policy change and stability, and globalization and public policy. Course Texts (Available for purchase at the UTSC Bookstore) Michael Howlett and M. Ramesh. Studying Public Policy: Policy Cycles and Policy Subsystems, 2 nd ed. Toronto: Oxford University Press, Course package for POLC66H Course Requirements and Grading Grades for this course will be based on five requirements: Tutorial Attendance Cumulative 10% Policy Briefing Note Due in class October 7 10% Midterm Test In class October 14 20% Policy Recommendation Due in class November 11 25% Final Examination Date and location TBA 35% 1

2 Tutorial Attendance: Tutorial sessions have been scheduled for weeks 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Tutorials are intended to (i) facilitate discussion on points raised in the lectures and readings and (ii) assist students in preparing written assignments and studying for the midterm test and final examination. Please note that tutorial attendance is mandatory. Policy Briefing Note: Policy briefing notes convey crucial information and recommendations to decision-makers. You will be required to prepare and submit a mock briefing note of 2 pages, typed and double spaced, using a standard 12-point font, such as Times New Roman. Material on which the briefing note is to be based will be provided to you in class, along with further details regarding the assignment. Policy Recommendation: Policy recommendations also aim at informing senior decision-makers about policy issues. They differ from briefing notes in that they offer more background and in-depth analysis of the issue at hand and the various options available to policymakers in addressing it. The policy recommendation should be 7-8 pages, typed and double-spaced, using a standard 12-point font, such as Times New Roman. More information regarding the policy recommendation, including a list of policy issues, will be provided to you in class. Midterm Test and Final Examinations: The midterm test and final examination will feature a combination of short answer and essay questions. The midterm test will be one-and-a-half hours long and administered in class on October 14. The final examination will be three hours long, cumulative and held during the examination period at the end of the term. More information regarding the midterm test and final examination will be provided to you in class. Please note that unexcused absence from the midterm test or final examination will result in a failing grade for that test or examination. If you are unable to attend the midterm test or final examination, you must inform me of your absence before the missed test or examination. Be prepared to provide appropriate written proof of medical emergencies and doctor s appointments. I will arrange any make-up tests on a case-bycase basis. Make-up examinations must be arranged through the Registrar s Office. Course Teaching Assistants (TAs) Karlo Basta and Scott Sams will serve as TAs for this course. They will lead tutorial seminars; grade writing assignments, tests and examinations; and answer course related questions via e- mail and during office hours. Their addresses are: <karlo.basta@gmail.com> and <scott.sams@utoronto.ca >. 2

3 Grading Appeals Appeals of grades must be accompanied by a 1-paragraph typed statement, outlining why you believe the grade is inappropriate. You must also provide a clean copy of your briefing note or policy recommendation, along with the original copy of the graded briefing note or policy recommendation. Late Penalties for Written Work Late briefing notes and policy recommendations will be penalized 5 per cent per day (including weekends). You are strongly advised to keep electronic and hard copies of your briefing notes and policy recommendations. These should be kept until the marked assignments have been returned. Academic Dishonesty Plagiarism is a serious academic offence and will be dealt with accordingly. For further clarification and information, please see the University of Toronto s policy on Plagiarism at < Accessibility Services Students requiring assistance because of a disability should inform me and contact UTSC Accessibility Services ( as soon as possible. Attendance You are expected to attend all scheduled lectures. Given that you will be tested on material covered in lectures, it is in your best interest to do so. If you miss a lecture, it is your responsibility to obtain notes from another student in the class. Once again, tutorial attendance is mandatory. Policy Please be sure to use your UTSC accounts for all course related correspondence. Please also note the course code (POLC66) in the subject line of your messages. The course TAs and I will do our best to respond to within 48 hours of receiving messages. received during weekends and holidays may take longer to answer. Please do not submit course assignments via ; briefing notes and policy recommendations must be submitted to me in class or during office hours. If you are unable to submit your assignments in class or during office hours, please use the essay drop box by office B520. 3

4 Intranet Please consult the course Intranet site regularly, as I will post discussion topics, media reports, announcements of relevant events, and important reminders. I will also post the outlines of my lectures, along with the course syllabus and important information regarding the policy briefing note and policy recommendation assignments. Writing Centre You are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the assistance and support offered by the UTSC Writing Centre ( Be sure to arrange appointments well in advance of relevant due dates. Recommended Readings, Relevant Periodicals and Other Electronic Resources Recommended readings will be available through E-resources or the Bladen Library s reserve desk. Relevant periodicals in the area of public policy include: Policy Sciences, Policy Studies Review, Policy Studies Journal, Journal of Public Policy, Policy Options, Policy Currents, Canadian Public Policy, Canadian Public Administration, Public Administration, Public Administration Review, Canadian Journal of Political Science, and Governance. There are also many useful on-line resources, such as: (be sure to review the many links under the Organizations tab) (Institute for Research on Public Policy) (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives) (Canadian Policy Research Network) (Government of Canada Official Website) (Government of Ontario Official Website) (Canadian Public Policy) (Frasier Institute) (Caledon Institute for Public Policy) (Canadian Institute for International Affairs) 4

5 Outline of Lecture Topics and Readings September 9 Week One: Course Introduction Howlett and Ramesh, Studying Public Policy, chapter 1. William T. Gormley, Jr., Public Policy Analysis: Ideas and Impacts, Annual Review of Political Science VOL. 10 (2007): pp (E-Resources) Harold D. Laswell, The Policy Orientation, in The Policy Sciences: Recent Developments in Scope and Method, ed. Daniel Lerner and Harold D. Lasswell (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1951): pp (On reserve) Max Weber, Politics as a Vocation and Bureaucracy, in From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, ed. Hans Gerth and C. Wright Mills (New York: Oxford University Press, 1946): pp , (On reserve) September 16 Week Two: Theories of Public Policy-Making Howlett and Ramesh, Studying Public Policy, chapter 2. Peter DeLeon and Katie Kaufmanis, Public Policy Theory: Will it Play in Peoria? Policy Currents (Newsletter of the Public Policy Section of the APSA) VOL. 10, No. 4 (Winter ): 9-12, available online at: Deborah A. Stone. The Market and the Polis, chapter in Policy Paradox: The Art of Decision-Making (New York: W. W. Norton): pp (On reserve) Ronald Manzer, Public Policy-Making as Practical Reasoning Canadian Journal of Political Science VOL. 17 (September 1984): pp (E-Resources) Richard Simeon, Studying Public Policy, Canadian Journal of Political Science VOL. 9, No. 4 (December 1976): pp (E-Resources) 5

6 September 23 Week Three: Actors and Institutions Howlett and Ramesh, Studying Public Policy, chapter 3. Rodney Haddow, Interest Representation and the Canadian State: From Group Politics to Policy Communities and Beyond, in Canadian Politics, 3 rd ed., ed. James Bickerton and Alain G. Gagnon (Peterborough: Broadview Press, 1999): pp (Course Reader) Jacob S. Hacker, The Historical Logic of National Health Insurance: Structure and Sequence in the Development of British, Canadian, and U.S. Medical Policy, Studies in American Political Development VOL. 12 (Spring 1998): (E-Resources) H. K. Colebatch, Who Makes Policy? and Where s Is It Made? chapters 3 and 4 in Policy, 2 nd ed. (Buckingham: Open University Press, 2002): pp (On reserve) François Petry and Matthew Mendelsohn, Public Opinion and Policy Making in Canada , Canadian Journal of Political Science VOL. 37, No. 3 (September 2003): pp (E-Resources) September 30 Week Four: Program Design and Policy Instruments Howlett and Ramesh, Studying Public Policy, chapter 4. Helen Schneider and Susan Ingram, Behavioral Assumptions of Policy Tools, The Journal of Politics VOL. 52, No. 2 (May 1990): pp (E-resources) Michael Howlett, Managing the Hollow State : Procedural Policy Instruments and Modern Governance Canadian Public Administration VOL. 43 (Winter 2000): pp (E-resources) K. Woodside, Policy Instruments and the Study of Public Policy, Canadian Journal of Political Science VOL. 19, No. 4 (1986): pp (E-Resources) 6

7 October 7 Week Five: Public Problems and Policy Agendas - Policy Briefing Note Due in Class! Howlett and Ramesh, Studying Public Policy, chapter 5. Thomas A. Birkland, Focussing Events, Mobilization and Agenda Setting, Journal of Public Policy VOL. 18, No. 1 (January 1998): pp (E-resources) John Kingdon, Wrapping Things Up, chapter 9 in Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies, 2 nd ed. (New York: Longman, 2003): pp (Course Reader) Deborah Stone, Causal Stories and the Formation of Policy Agendas, Political Science Quarterly VOL. 104 (1989): pp (E-resources) David Rochefort and Roger Cobb, Problem Definition, Agenda Access, and Policy Choice, Policy Studies Journal VOL. 21, No. 1 (1993): pp (E-resources) October 14 Week Six: Midterm Test October 21 Week Seven: Policy Formulation Howlett and Ramesh, Studying Public Policy, chapter 6. Michael M. Atkinson and William D. Coleman, Policy Networks, Policy Communities, and the Problems of Governance, Governance VOL. 5, No. 2 (April 1992): pp (E- Resources) William A. Galston, Political Feasibility: Interests and Power, in The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy, ed. Michael Morin, Martin Rein and Robert E. Goodin (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006): pp (Course Reader) Paul Burstein, Policy Domains: Organization, Culture and Policy Outcomes, Annual Review of Sociology VOL. 17 (1991): pp (E-Resources) 7

8 Linda A. White, Ideas and the Welfare State: Explaining Child Care Policy Development in Canada and the United States, Comparative Political Studies VOL. 35, No. 6 (August 2002): pp (E-resources) October 28 Week Eight: Decision-Making Howlett and Ramesh, Studying Public Policy, chapter 7. Gilbert Smith and David May, The Artificial Debate Between Rationalist and Incrementalist Models of Decision-Making, Policy and Politics 8 (1980): pp (Course Reader) Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice, Science 211, 4481 (1981): (E-Resources) Charles Lindblom, The Science of Muddling Through, Public Administration Review VOL. 19, No. 2 (1959): pp (E-Resources) M. Cohen, J. March and J. Olsen. A Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice, Administrative Science Quarterly VOL. 17(1972): pp (E-Resources) Deborah Stone, Decisions, in Policy Paradox: The Art of Political Decision Making (New York: Harper Collins, 1988): pp (On reserve) November 4 Week Nine: Policy Implementation Howlett and Ramesh, Studying Public Policy, chapter 8. Paul Sabatier, Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches to Implementation Research: A Critical Analysis and Suggested Synthesis, Journal of Public Policy VOL. 6, No. 1 (1986): (E-Resources) Laurence J. O Toole, Jr., Research on Policy implementation: Assessment and Prospects, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory VOL. 10, No. 2 (2000): pp (E-Resources) 8

9 Anne L. Schneider and Helen Ingram, Policy Design: Elements, Premises, and Strategies, in Policy Theory and Policy Evaluation: Concepts, Knowledge, Causes, and Norms, ed. S. S. Nagel (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990): pp Peter DeLeon and Linda DeLeon, What Ever Happened to Policy Implementation? An Alternative Approach, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory VOL. 12, No. 4 (2002): pp (E-Resources) November 11 Week Ten: Policy Evaluation and Learning - Policy Recommendation Due in Class! Howlett and Ramesh, Studying Public Policy, chapter 9. Peter J. May, Policy Failure and Learning, Journal of Public Policy VOL. 12, No. 4 (1992): pp (Course Reader) Colin Bennett and Michael Howlett, The Lessons of Learning: Reconciling Theories of Policy Learning and Policy Change, Policy Sciences VOL. 25, No. 3 (1992): pp (E- Resources) Thomas A. Birkland, Learning and Policy Improvement after Disaster: The Case of Aviation Security, American Behavioral Scientist VOL. 48, No. 3 (Nov 2004): pp (E-Resources) Paul Pierson, When Effect Becomes Cause: Policy Feedback and Political Change, World Politics 45 (1993): pp (E-Resources) November 18 Week Eleven: Policy Change and Stability Howlett and Ramesh, Studying Public Policy, chapter 10. Peter Hall, Policy Paradigms, Social Learning and the State: The Case of Economic Policy- Making in Britain, Comparative Politics VOL. 25, No. 3 (1993): pp (E-Resources) 9

10 David Wilsford, Path Dependency, or Why History Makes It Difficult but Not Impossible to Reform Health Care Systems in A Big Way, Journal of Public Policy VOL. 14, No. 3 (1994): pp (Course Reader) Robert Henry Cox, The Social Construction of an Imperative: Why Welfare Reform Happened in Denmark and the Netherlands but not in Germany, World Politics 53 (April 2001): (E-Resources) John T. S. Keeler, Opening the Window for Reform: Mandates, Crises and Extraordinary Policy-Making, Comparative Political Studies VOL. 25, No 4 (January 1993): pp (E-Resources) Erik Bleich, Institutional Continuity and Change: Norms, Lesson-Drawing and the Introduction of Race-Conscious Measures in the British Race Relations Act of 1976, Policy Studies VOL. 27, No. 3 (September 2006): pp (E-Resources) November 25 Week 12: Public Policy-Making in a Globalizing World Colin Hay, Globalization and Public Policy, in The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy, ed. Michael Morin, Martin Rein and Robert E. Goodin (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006): pp (Course Reader) Grace Skogstad, Public Policy and Globalization: Situating Canadian Analyses, Canadian Journal of Political Science (December 2000): pp (E-Resources) Steven Bernstein and Benjamin Cashore, Globalization, Four Paths of Internationalization and Domestic Policy Change: The Case of EcoForestry in British Columbia, Canada, Canadian Journal of Political Science VOL. 33, No. 1 (March 2000): pp (E-Resources) Rodney Haddow and Thomas R. Klassen, Partisanship, Institutions and Public Policy: The Case of Labour Market Policy in Ontario, , Canadian Journal of Political Science VOL. 37, No. 1 (March 2004): pp (E-Resources) Geoffrey Garrett, Global Markets and National Politics: Collision Course or Virtuous Circle? International Organization VOL. 52, No. 4 (1998): pp (E-Resources) 10