Class discussions and assigned presentations based on reading assignments;

Transcription

1 UEP / MPP Integrative Seminar Prof. James Jennings james.jennings@tufts.edu Spring 2012 Wednesday 4:30 5:45pm Anderson 210 Course Objectives and Organization: MPP Integrative Seminar (MPP II) continues with the building of a foundation for understanding how public policy is made, implemented, and discussed/debated in various contexts. The readings and course discussions are generally aimed at strengthening conceptual skills and insights related to investigating and exploring public policy interests. A related aim of the second half of the MPP seminar (half-credit) is to provide graduate students with opportunities to explore and research their own policy interests and areas. Part One: Public Policy and Contexts continues with using presentations in select areas to ground students in social policy. In the first semester we covered a number of areas including, Identification and targeting of problems, issues, troubles for public policy attention Review of select classical pieces which serve as a foundation for understanding public policy Overview of some key social policies associated with earlier national administrations Demography and immigration as it pertains to public policy Research limitations in the study of race and gender, and public policy Review of classic debate regarding relationship between polis and the free market This semester I will cover the following: Impact of the Civil Rights Movement on social policy today; The role and impact of the U.S. judiciary system on public policy; Gender dynamics in the adoption and implementation of social policy The role of nonprofits in the implementation of public policy Faith-based sector and social policy Understanding public finance in Massachusetts The continuing persistence of poverty and how public policy seeks to address such Overview of US public health policy characteristics Part Two: Student Policy Interests provides opportunities for graduate students to explore their own policy areas and interests. More detail will be provided at the first session. Course Requirements: Class discussions and assigned presentations based on reading assignments; Field assignment: interview with a public official involved in student s area of interest Paper (and presentation) about a specific policy or program, but based on GAO research reports and related reports published by a policy-oriented research think tank (MassINC;

2 Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center; Rappaport Institute; Urban Institute; Brookings Institute, or other). Course readings are included in a reading packet available for purchase at Gnomon copy; some of the required readings (noted with *) can be accessed online or will be ed to students. Please note that the use of notebooks is not permitted in this class.

3 Session 1 (1-25): MPP II and course requirements; reflections about MPP I Part One: Public Policy and Contexts Session 2 (2-1): Social Movement and Public Policy: Case of the Civil Rights Movement Read: M. Ali, et al., State of the Dream 2011: Austerity for Whom? United for Fair Economy (January 2011) * Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America (Sharpe, 1998), pp (packet) Session 3 (2-8): Overview of Courts and Public Policy Read: D. Butt, The Courts and Social Policy in the U.S., The Foundation for Law, Justice and Society and The Aspen Institute (July 2007) (packet) 2 US Supreme Court cases in your area of interest; students can access decisions at: Class reference will be made to the following decisions: Corrigan (1926); Bakke (1978); Conn Assoc for Retarded Citizens v Thorne (1984); Adarand (1995); Hopwood v Texas (1996); Grutter v Bollinger (2003) Session 4 (2-15): Gender, Jobs, and the Spatial Mismatch Theory Read: E. Blumenberg, En-gendering Effective Planning: Spaital Mismatch, Low-Income Women and Transportation Policy JAPA, vol. 70, no. 3 (Summer 2004) (packet) Highlights of Women s Earnings in 2010, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2011) * R. Abelda and C. Kelleher, Women in the Down Economy: Impacts of the Recession and the Stimulus in Massachusetts Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy and Center for

4 Social Policy, University of Massachusetts (March 2010) (packet) Session 5 (2-22): TBD Session 6 (2-29): Public Policy and Community-Based Nonprofits Read: J. Jennings and R. Torres, Community-Based Nonprofits in US Inner Cities: Collaborative Strategies for Community Building Sage Race Relations Abstracts, vol.32 (4) 2007 * The Nonprofit City: The Impact of Boston s Teaching Hospitals in Our Community, Community Labor United (Boston, 2009) * A. Blackwood, The Nonprofit Sector in Brief, The Urban Institute (Washington D.C., 2008) * Session 7 (3-7): Public Policy and the Faith-based Sector Read: R. J. Kissane, How Do Faith-Based Organizations Compare to Secular Providers? Journal of Poverty, vol. 11, no.4 (2008) * U.S. GAO, Charitable Choice: Overview of Research Findings on Implementation, GAO (June 2002) (packet) Session 8 (3-14): TBD: This week and the Spring Recess week should be used to identify and interview a public official in your area of interest; this can be an elected official, or mid- or high level representative in a public agency. Session 9 (3-28): Public Finance: Taxes and Workforce in Massachusetts Read: Understanding Our Tax System: Primer for Active Citizens Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (Boston, 2005) * The State of Working Massachusetts 2010, MassBudget (January 2011) *

5 Session 10 (4-4): Poverty and Urban Communities Read: US GAO, Poverty in America: Economic Research Shows Adverse Impacts on health Status and Other Social Conditions as well as the Economic Growth Rate GAO (January 2007) * Child Poverty in Massachusetts (Massachusetts Kids Count, 2008) * From Poverty to Prosperity:; National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half, Center for American Progress Task Force on Poverty (April 2007) * Session 11 (4-11): Overview of US Public Health Policy Characteristics Read: D.I. Hay, Economic Arguments for Action on the Social Determinants of Health Canadian Policy Research Networks and Public Health Agency of Canada (October 2006) Health of Boston 2010, Boston Public Health Commission (2011) * Current Population Reports, Income, Poverty, and an Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009 US Census Bureau (September 2010), pp * Part Two: Student Policy Interests Session 12 (4-18): Discussion of Policy Actors Selected and Interviewed by Students Read: P. Eisinger, City Politics in an Era of Federal Devolution Urban Affairs Review, Vol. 33, No. 3 (Jan 98) (packet) D. Swinney, Building the Bridge to the High Road: Expanding Participation and Democracy in the Economy to Build Sustainable Communities, Center for Labor and Community Research (Chicago, 2000), pp (packet) Session 13 (4-25): Student presentations and discussion of policy memos.