PAD 6025 Theoretical Perspectives in Public Policy Instructor One: Professor Rick Feiock Office Hours: 665 Bellamy, Tuesday 4:00 5:15 Telephone: 644-7615 Email: rfeiock@coss.fsu.edu Instructor Two: Professor Fran Berry Office Hours: 627 Bellamy DAY and Hour??? Telephone: 644-7603 Email: fberry@garnet.acns.fsu.edu Class Page: http://www.campus.fsu.edu Objectives: This is a seminar in public policy for students in Public Administration and Policy, and suitable for doctoral students enrolled in other programs which share an interest in public policy. The course covers a variety of topics related both to the substance and methods of public policy. We will examine theoretical frameworks from a variety of disciplines. These include: welfare economics, political science, political economy, and organization theory. We will also emphasize the role of theory in empirical policy research. There is an extensive literature related to each of these topics; the class will read and discuss some of the important recent materials as well as relevant classics. A seminar is distinguished from a class in that students in a seminar are expected to provide the major set of intellectual stimuli for consideration, with the instructors guiding and assisting students and, during discussions, assisting in the synthesis of diverse student input. The seminar will be collegial in the sense that there is a genuine search for answers to some of the more vexing intellectual problems associated with the study of public policy. Ultimately, however, the success of the seminar as a learning experience for all participants will depend on the commitment and participation of each class member. Course Requirements and Grading: Students will be expected to be full participants in shaping the character of the seminar; that requires all students to come to class prepared to discuss the readings for each session. One student will be required to post a brief critical commentary and questions ton the readings two days in advance of each class meeting. There will be a final examination which will be in format similar to the written prelim exams and two papers. The first will be a proposal for an empirical research paper to address a policy theory question. This proposal will be due June 8 th and presented in class on June 10 th. The final paper will build upon the proposal and carry out the research. This paper will be due July 17 th.
Student performance will be evaluated as follows: Participation 20% Research Proposal 10% Final Exam 35% Research Paper 35% Academic Honor Code: Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code published in The Florida State University Bulletin and the Student Handbook. The Academic Honor System of The Florida State University is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility (1) to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student's own work, (2) to refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the university community, and (3) to foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the part of the university community. Please see the following web site for a complete explanation of the Academic Honor Code. http://www.fsu.edu/books/student-handbook/codes/honor.html Americans with Disabilities Act: Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should: (1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center; (2) bring a letter to the instructor indicating the need for accommodation and what type. This should be done during the first week of class. For more information about services available to FSU students with disabilities, contact the Student Disability Resource Center at 644-9566, SDRC@admin.fsu.edu, or visit the web site at http://www.fsu.edu/~staffair/dean/studentdisability/ Required Books: Frank Baumgarner and Bryan Jones, Agendas and Instability in American Politics, Avinash K.Dixit, 1996 The Making of Economic Policy : A Transaction-Cost Politics Perspective. MIT Press. Paul Sabatier, 1999. Theories of the Policy Process Westview Press.. David Weimer and Adian Vining 1999. Policy Analysis: Concepts and Cases, 3 rd edition, Prentice Hall. Michael Mintrom, 2000. Policy Entrepreneurs and School Choice, Georgetown University Press, Washington, DC. Steven E. Rhoads, 1996. The Economists View of the World: Government, Markets and Public Policy. Cambridge University Press. [recommended]
Additional readings are downloadable through JSTOR, the BlackBoard course page, or will be photocopied and placed on reserve in Bellamy 611. These reading are designated with an (R) on the following list of readings and assignments. Readings in the edited text by Sabattier are designated (S) on the syllabus. Course Outline and Schedule May 11 th Defining Policy Typologies May 13 th May 18 th Lowi, American Business, Public Policy, Case Studies and Political Theory, World Politics July 1964: 677-715. Weimer and Vining, Policy Analysis Chapter 5 pp. 74-94 -handout from Debra Salazar, Conflict Expansion: Public Policy Typologies and Rational Choice" -handout from James Q. Wilson s book Organizations -handout on writing Research Proposals Assessing Policy Theories Paul Sabatier, Toward Better Theories of the Policy Process. PS, 1991: 147-56. The Need for Better Theories Sabatier, Ch. 1. Fostering Development of Policy Theory Sabatier Ch. 10. Peter deleon The Stages Approach to the Policy Process Sabatier Ch. 2 Linda Deleon article on policy theories Kim Quail Hill, In Search of Policy Theory Policy Currents 1997 http://apsapolicysection.org/vol7_1/71.pdf Welfare Economics Theory Steven E. Rhoads, The Economists View of the World: Government, Markets and Public Policy. [recommended] Weimer and Vining, Policy Analysis Concepts and Cases, Chs. 4-9 May 20th Transaction Cost Theories and Policy Instruments Avinash K.Dixit, The Making of Economic Policy : A Transaction-Cost Politics Perspective, Chs. 1&2. Weimer and Vining, Policy Analysis: Concepts and Cases, Chapter 10 Nathaniel O. Keohane, Richard Reves, and Robert Stavins, The Choice of Policy Instruments in Environmental Policy http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/prg/stavins/choice.htm Lester Salamon Beyond Privatization: The Tools of Government Action Chs. 1-2 (R).
May 25th Policy Subsystems Theories and the Advocacy Coalition Framework Daniel McCool, The Subsystem Family of Concepts: A Critique and Proposal Political Research Quarterly, 1998. Paul Sabatier and Hank Jenkins-Smith The Advocacy Coalition Framework: An Assessment. Sabatier, Ch. 6. Edella Schlager A Comparison of Frameworks Theories and Models of the Policy Process Sabatier Ch. 9. May 28 th Cooperation, Collaboration and Collective Action Hardin, The Tragedy of the Commons, Science, Dec. 13, 1968: 1243-48 Elinor Ostrom, 1998. A Behavioral Approach to the Rational Choice Theory of Collective Action, American Political Science Review 22: 1-22. Lubell, Mark, Mark Schneider, John Scholz, and Mihriye Mete. 2002. Watershed Partnerships and the Emergence of Collective Action Institutions. American Journal of Political Science 46 (1): 148-163. Richard Feiock Regionalism and Institutional Collective Action in Metropolitan Governance: Conflict, Competition and Cooperation, Georgetown University Press 2004: Chs. 1 and 11. Richard Feiock and Hyung Jun Park Social Capital and the Formation of Regional Partnerships International Journal of Economic Development 4(2) 2003. June 3 rd and 8 th Explaining Policy Change: Agenda Setting, and Policy Innovation and Diffusion Theories June 3rd Sabatier Book, Chapter 5 Punctuated-Equilibrium Theory Sabatier Book, Chapter 4 Agenda Setting Jack Walker, The Diffusion of Innovations Among the American States, APSR 1969: 880-99. Virginia Gray, Innovation in the States: A Diffusion Study, APSR 1973: 1174-93. F.S. Berry and W.D. Berry, State Lottery Adoptions as Policy Innovations: An Event History Analysis, APSR June 1990.
F.S. Berry and W.D. Berry, Tax Innovation by American States, AJPS (August 1992). June 8 th Newer Additions to Innovation Research: Reinvention, Policy Entrepreneurs, Morality Policy Michael Mintrom, Innovation in Education Policy and Policy Entrepreneurs F.S. Berry and W. D. Berry, Chapter 7, Innovation and Diffusion Models in Policy Research, from Sabatier, Theories of the Policy Process, 1999. Glick and Hays, Innovation and Reinvention in State Policymaking: Theory and the Evolution of Living Will Laws, Journal of Politics Aug. 1991. Mooney and Lee, Legislating Morality in the American States: The Case of Abortion Regulation Reform, AJPS Aug. 1995. Additional Readings: Berry, F., Sizing Up State Policy Innovation Research, Policy Sudies Journal, Autumn 1994. Mintrom, Michael, Policy Entrepreneurs and the Diffusion of Innovation, AJPS, 1997. Mintrom and Vergari, Policy Networks and Innovation Diffusion: The Case of State Education Reforms, JP, Feb. 98. June 10 th In-class presentations on your Research Proposal Topics June 15 th Policy Implementation Van Horn and Van Meter, The Implementation of Intergovernmental Policy, in Jones and Thomas, eds., Public Policy Making in a Federal System. Sabatier Book, Chapters 9 and 10 Mazmanian and Sabatier, Implementation and Public Policy, chapters 1-2. Wood, Dan, Modeling Federal Implementation as a System. AJPS Feb. 1992. Keiser and Meier, Policy Design, Bureaucratic Incentives and Public Management: The Case of Child Support Enforcement, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 1996: pp. 337-64. Berry, Berry and Foster, The Determinants of Success in Implementing an Expert System in State Government, Public Administration Review, July/August 1998.
Suggested Reading of Old Classics: Pressman and Wildavsky, Implementation, 1978 Bardach, Eugene, The Implementation Game Marvel, Implementation and Safety Regulation, A&S 1982: 15-34. Menzel, Redirecting the Implementation of a Law, PAR 1983: 411-20. June 17 th FINAL EXAM