Subject Code Subject Title APSS5200 Social Planning and the Policy Process Credit Value 3 Level 5 Co- Pre-requisite / requisite/ Exclusion Minimum Pass Grade Nil D Assessment Methods 100% Continuous Assessment Individual Assessment Group Assessment 1. Short review essay 25% 0% 2. Seminar participation and presentation 25% 0% 3. Policy process analysis paper 50% 0% 0% Examination Objectives The objectives of this subject are: 1. to allow students to develop a basic knowledge of the major models of social policy making and an awareness of the policy process; 2. to prepare students developing a higher level of independent and creative thinking for analyzing and problem-solving in the process of planning and implementing social policy; 3. to enable students to assess and reflect on the assumptions and institutional arrangements of social planning and the policy process; 4. to assist students in developing their interpersonal skills for teamwork, communicating skills for delivering policy proposals and policy analysis to stakeholders through interactive and problem-based lectures and participatory seminar presentations. Intended Learning Outcomes Upon completion of the subject, students will be able to: a. Identify key literature and communicate the complexities involved in planning for social development in comparative policy processes; Subject Synopsis/ Indicative Syllabus b. Demonstrate the competence in using relevant frameworks for assessing and analyzing the strategy options in the policy process; c. Perform ethical and responsible policy practice d. Conduct research to enhance effectiveness of the policy processes 1. Introduction and Overview: Framework for Understanding Policy Process Macro Analysis: Globalization and its aftermath new political economy, postindustrial society, technological and the information age, and shifting Last updated in July 2013 1
international power Micro Analysis: The role of individuals in designing and delivering its final outcomes policy makers, street level bureaucrats and the ordinary folks; the debates on structure Vs agency, top-down and participatory approach Meso Analysis: The process in which institutions and governments impact on designing and delivering policy system of governance, political parties, role of public-private partnerships, policy community and networks 2. Integrating Social Development, Social Planning and Policy Making Process Social Development Explained Social Policy Making: Processes Reviewed Prospects for Social Planning 3. Understanding Policy Community Defining Policy Community Elites, Street Bureaucrats and Regime Actors and Agency and Institutions Patterns of Policy Participation 4. Policy Design and Policy Tools: Institutional Framework and Culture Values, Ideology and Designing Policy Policy Tools Institutional Framework: Social Construction of Problem and Targeted Populations; Distribution of Resources and Power Institutional Culture, Preferred Knowledge Systems; Opinions of Elites and the Public 5. Policy Dynamics I: Stakeholder Politics, Policy Network, Coalition and Lobbying Identifying Political Stakeholders: Political Parties, Opinion Makers, Think Tanks, Decision Makers and Pressure Groups Politics and Influence of Policy Networks Forming Alliances and Coalition Lobbying and Lobby Groups 6. Policy Dynamics II: Policy Discourse, Narrative, Policy Space and Technology Taking Charge in Policy Process: the Power of Policy Discourse Constructing Policy Narrative Policy Space: Roles of Media, Celebrities and the Internet New Technology and Policy Dynamics: the Making of Public Opinion and the Facebook-Youtube Generation 7. Influencing Policy: Activism and Advocacy Transforming Public Policy into the Social: the Role of Advocacy Putting the Social into Action: Activism in Influencing Policy Making The Limits to Activism and Advocacy The Promises of New Social Movements 8. Negotiating Social Policy and the Policy Process: Lessons for Social Planning Communicating Policy: Types of Policy, Values, Goals, Mission, Access and Fairness Technical Feasibility and the Question of Budget The End of Linear Models Chaos of Policy Making: Multidisciplinary Tools and Concepts The Promises of Social Planning Last updated in July 2013 2
Future Pathways Teaching/Learning Methodology The subject will offer interactive lectures aiming to introduce to students key concepts, theories and practical skills for understanding how social planning and policy formulation is done within a policy process commonly expected in democratic economies. Moreover, a seminar program is in place to allow students to assimilate the materials presented in lectures and core readings. It will require students to engage in individual research and collaborative exchange framed by a problem-based learning approach. Students are expected to participate in self-directed learning through their individual assignment to analyze certain aspects of policy process. Assessment Methods in Alignment with Intended Learning Outcomes Specific assessment methods/tasks % weightin g Intended subject learning outcomes to be assessed a b c d 1. Short review essay 25% 2. Seminar participation and presentation 25% 3. Policy process analysis paper 50% Total 100% Explanation of the appropriateness of the assessment methods in assessing the intended learning outcomes: One short paper of 1,000 words, will require students to critically review two major policy process theories, and another research paper of 3,000 words, will see students to conduct an independent research on policy making using a major theoretical framework to highlight their research findings, will ensure students to apply what they have learned to analyze specific problems in social planning and the policy process. Their public and interpersonal communication skills will also be enhanced through participating and presenting their research findings in seminar sessions. Student Study Effort Required Class contact: Lecture 24 Hrs. Seminar 18 Hrs. Other student study effort: Self-directed studies 40 Hrs. Preparation for short papers 10 Hrs. Preparation for seminar presentation 10 Hrs. Preparation for final process analysis paper 20 Hrs. Medium of Instruction Total student study effort English 122 Hrs. Last updated in July 2013 3
P Ed.). P Ed). Medium of Assessment Reading List and References English UEssential Birkland, T.A. (2011). An introduction to the policy process: Theories, concepts, and rd models of public policy making. (3P Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. th Hill, M. (2009) The public policy process. (5P P Ed.). Harlow, UK: Pearson/Longman. Hudson, J. & Lowe, S. (2009). Understanding the policy process. Analysing welfare nd policy and practice. (2P Bristol: The Policy Press. Poon, J.P.H., Button, K. & Nijkamp, P. (Eds.) (2005). Social planning. Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar. Sabatier, P.A. (Ed.) (2007). Theories of the policy process. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. USupplementary 8TAlcock, C., Payne, S. & Sullivan, M. (2004). Introducing social policy. 8THarlow, England: Pearson/Prentice Hall. nd Alcock, P. et al. (Eds.) (2003). The student s companion to social policy, (2P P Edition). Oxford: Blackwell. 8TAlsop, R., Bertelsen, M.F. & Holland, J. (2006). Empowerment in practice: from Analysis to implementation. Washington DC: The World Bank. rd Baldock, J., Manning, N. & Vickerstaff, S. (Eds.) (2003). Social policy. (3P P Edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 8TBall, P. (2004). Critical mass: How one thing leads to another. 8TNew York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Beland, D. (2010). What is social policy? Understanding the welfare state. Cambridge: Polity Press. 8TBochel, C., & Bochel, H.M. (2004). The UK social policy process. 8TBasingstoke; New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan. Bochel, H. & Duncan, S. (Eds.) (2007). Making policy in theory and practice. Bristol: The Policy Press. 8TBogenschneider, K., and Corbett, T.J. (2010). Evidence-based policymaking: insights from policy-minded researchers and research-minded policymakers. 8TNew York: Routledge. 8TBryce, H.J. (2005). Players in the public policy process: Nonprofits as social capital and agents. 8TNew York: Palgrave Macmillan. Budd, L., Charlesworth, J. & Paton, R. (Eds.) (2006). Making policy happen. London and New York: Routledge. Burton, P. (2006). Modernising the policy process: Making policy research more significant? Policy Studies, 27(3): 173-195. Last updated in July 2013 4
8TCheung, P.T.Y. (2011). Civic engagement in the policy process in Hong Kong: Change and continuity. Public Administration and Development, 31(2): 113-121. Chin, Y.C. (2011). Policy process, policy learning, and the role of the provincial media in China. Media,Culture and society, 2T33(2), p.193-210. Edwards, M. with Howard, C. and Miller, R. (2001). Social policy, public policy: From problem to practice. Sydney: Allen and Unwin. 8TDouglas, F. and Geller, G. (Eds.) (2007). Redefining productivity for social development and well-being. 8TRegina: University of Regina, Canadian Plains Research Center. Gladwell, M. (2000). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference. Boston: Little Brown and Company. 8THill, M. (2006). Social policy in the modern world: A comparative text. 8TMalden, MA: Blackwell. th 8THill, M., and Irving, Z. (2009). Understanding social policy. (8P P Ed.). Wiley-Blackwell, 8TChichester: 8THolland, J. (2007). Tools for institutional, political, and social analysis of policy reform: A sourcebook for development practitioners. Washington DC: The World Bank. 8THopkins, L.D. and Zapata, M. (Eds.) (2007). Engaging the future: forecasts, scenarios, plans, and projects. 8TCambridge, MA: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Jones, B.D. and Baumgartner (2005). A model of policy choice, Journal of public administration research and theory, 15(3): 325-351. 8TKoch-Baumgarten, S. and Voltmer, K. (Eds.) (2010). Public policy and mass media: the interplay of mass communication and political decision making.8t London; New York: Routledge/ECPR. Lewis, G. et.al. (Eds.) (2000). Rethinking social policy. London: Sage Publications. 8TMidgley, J. and Livermore, M. (Eds.) (2009). The handbook of social policy. 8Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 8TNowlin, M.C. (2011). Theories of the policy process: state of the research and emerging trends. Policy studies journal, April Supplement. 39(1): 41-60. Peters, G.B. (2005). The problem of policy problems, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 7(Dec): 349-370 Pump, B. (2011). Beyond metaphors: New research on agendas in the policy process. Policy studies journal, April supplement. 39: 1-12. Sachs, J.D. (2010). Fixing the broken policy process: greater transparency and limits on lobbyist influence would promote better long-range strategies. 2TScientific American, 302(2): 28. Smith, S. (Ed.) (2007). Applying theory to policy and practice. Aldershot: Ashgate. 8TSchönwandt, W.L. (2008.) Planning in crisis: Theoretical orientations for architecture Last updated in July 2013 5
and planning. 8TAldershot, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate8T. Weible, C.M., Heikkila, T., deleon, P. and Sabatier, P.A. (2012). Understanding and influencing the policy process. Policy sciences, 45(1): 1-21. Last updated in July 2013 6