Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2016
The Freshman Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small-seminar setting. Freshman seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment limited to 15 freshmen.
Freshman Seminar: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2012
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower-division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester. Enrollment limits are set by the faculty, but the suggested limit is 25.
Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Group study on selected public policy topics. Open to freshmen and sophomores.
Group Study in Public Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
A systematic and critical approach to evaluating and designing public policies. Combines theory and application to particular cases and problems. Diverse policy topics, including environmental, health, education, communications, safety, and arts policy issues, among others.
Introduction to Public Policy Analysis: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2009, Spring 2008
This course is designed to provide students with a deeper understanding both of the structure of political economy and of why the distribution of earnings, wealth, and opportunity have been diverging in the United States and in other nations. It is also intended to provide insight into the political and public policy debates that have arisen in light of the divergence as well as possible means of reversing it.
Wealth and Poverty: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
This course is designed to provide students with a deeper understanding both of the organization of the political economy in the United States and of other advanced economies, and of why the distribution of earnings, wealth, and opportunity have been diverging in the United States and in other nations. It also is intended to provide insights into the political and public-policy debates that have arisen in light of this divergence, as well as possible means of reversing it.
Wealth and Poverty: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
The objective of this course is to use the tools and insights of public policy analysis as a means of understanding the ways in which policies are shaped by and respond to issues of race, ethnicity, and cultural difference. The course is organized around a series of discrete policy problems involving issues of race and ethnicity. It is designed to allow for comparative analysis within and across cases to explore the variety of ways in which policy intersects with different racial and ethnic groups.
Race, Ethnicity, and Public Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
This course focuses on the sensible application of econometric methods to empirical problems in economics and public policy analysis. It provides background on issues that arise when analyzing non-experimental social science data and a guide for tools that are useful for empirical research. By the end of the course, students will have an understanding of the types of research designs that can lead to convincing analysis and be comfortable working with large scale data sets.
Applied Econometrics and Public Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Personality factors in political behavior; psychological roots of decision-making; leadership; psychological sources of political belief; conflict theory.
Political Psychology and Public Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2011, Fall 2005
Studio/laboratory in the design of nonphysical environments. Complements courses in policy analysis, public management, economics, and political science; especially intended to integrate elements of professional programs in public policy and related areas. Students will design, in groups and individually, programs and policies that create value in the public sector, including statutes, regulations, and implementation projects. Comparative reviews will feature invited guests. Undergraduate level of 256.
Program and Policy Design: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Survey of government policy toward the arts (especially direct subsidy, copyright and regulation, and indirect assistance) and its effects on artists, audiences, and institutions. Emphasizes "highbrow" arts, U.S. policy, and the social and economic roles of participants in the arts. Readings, field trips, and case discussion. One paper in two drafts required for undergraduate credit; graduate credit awarded for an additional short paper to be arranged and attendance at four advanced colloquia throughout the term. Undergraduate level of 257.
Arts and Cultural Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2013
Survey of government policy toward the arts (especially direct subsidy, copyright and regulation, and indirect assistance) and its effects on artists, audiences, and institutions. Emphasizes "highbrow" arts, U.S. policy, and the social and economic roles of participants in the arts. Readings, field trips, and case discussion. One paper in two drafts required for undergraduate credit; graduate credit awarded for an additional short paper to be arranged and attendance at four advanced colloquia throughout the term. Undergraduate level of 257.
Arts and Cultural Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2007
Examination of the impact of policies of state intervention and public benefit programs on poor children and families. Introduction to child and family policy, and study of specific issue areas, such as income transfer programs, housing, health care, and child abuse.
Impact of Government Policies on Poor Children and Families: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
Public sector budgeting incorporates many, perhaps most, of the skills of the public manager and analyst. The goal of this course is to develop and hone these skills. Using cases and readings from all levels of American government, the course will allow the student to gain and understanding of the effects and consequences of public sector budgeting, its processes and participants, and the potential impacts of various reforms. Undegraduate level of Public Policy 269. This course can be applied to the political science major.
Public Budgeting: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2010, Fall 2009, Fall 2008
Most environmental issues involve technology, either in the role of "villain" or "hero." This course uses the lens of specific technologies to survey environmental policy and management, with an emphasis on the complexities of policy-making with diverse interest groups. The class includes case studies, guest practitioners, and a group project in which students employ a range of analytic tools and frameworks in order to develop creative, effective, and actionable environmental solutions.
Environment and Technology from the Policy and Business Perspective: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 10 Week Session, Fall 2017
Energy sources, uses, and impacts: an introduction to the technology, politics, economics, and environmental effects of energy in contemporary society. Energy and well-being; energy in international perspective, origins, and character of energy crisis.
Energy and Society: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Course examines current problems and issues in the field of public policy. Topics may vary from year to year and will be announced at the beginning of the semester. Open to students from other departments.
Special Topics in Public Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Prior to 2007
This course in practical policy evaluation will focus on two primary sites of racial and economic inequality in America today: higher education and mass incarceration. We will examine both the causes and consequences of the underrepresentation of racial minorities and the poor on college campuses and the overrepresentation of these same groups in the nation’s prisons and jails. In collaboration with our community partner, the Prison University Project’s College Program at San Quentin State Prison, students will then have the opportunity to participate in an original research project designed to explore the challenges and potential of providing incarcerated individuals with college courses behind bars.
Combining Research and Practice: Inequality, Imprisonment, and Higher Education in the Community: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Group study of a selected topic or topics in Public Policy. Meetings to be arranged.
Directed Group Study: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Fall 2014
For upper division students wishing to pursue special study and directed research under direction of a member of the staff. Enrollment restrictions apply; see the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of this catalog.
Supervised Independent Study and Research: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
This introductory course will integrate various social science disciplines and apply these perspectives to problems of public policy. Throughout the academic term, students will apply knowledge of politics, economics, sociology, and quantitative methods in the analysis of case studies of policymakers and managers making decisions. Students learn to use the techniques of social science to evaluate projects and programs. Course will include the preparation of a major paper for a client.
Introduction to Policy Analysis: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Each student will conduct thorough analysis on a major policy question. In this research, students will apply the interdisciplinary methods, approaches, and perspectives studied in the core curriculum.
Advanced Policy Analysis: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
Theories of microeconomic behavior of consumers, producers, and bureaucrats are developed and applied to specific policy areas. Ability to analyze the effects of alternative policy actions in terms of 1) the efficiency of resource allocation and 2) equity is stressed. Policy areas are selected to show a broad range of actual applications of theory and a variety of policy strategies.
The Economics of Public Policy Analysis: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
Theories of microeconomic behavior of consumers, producers, and bureaucrats are developed and applied to specific policy areas. Ability to analyze the effects of alternative policy actions in terms of 1) the efficiency of resource allocation and 2) equity is stressed. Policy areas are selected to show a broad range of actual applications of theory and a variety of policy strategies.
The Economics of Public Policy Analysis: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2015
Focuses on legal aspects of public policy by exposing students to primary legal materials, including court decisions and legislative and administrative regulations. Skills of interpretation and legal draftsmanship are developed. Relationships among law-making agencies and between law and policy are explored through case-centered studies.
Law and Public Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
Graduate seminar examining the role of energy science, technology, and policy in
international development. The course will look at how changes in the theory and practice
of energy systems and of international development have co-evolved over the past half-
century, and what opportunities exist going forward.

A focus will be on rural and decentralized energy use, and the issues of technology, culture,
and politics that are raised by both current trajectories, and potential alternative energy
choices. We will explore the frequently divergent ideas about energy and development that
have emerged from civil society, academia, multinational development agencies, and the
private and industrial sector.
Climate, Energy and Development: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
An integrated course on the use of quantitative techniques in public policy analysis: computer modeling and simulation, linear programming and optimization, decision theory, and statistical and econometric analysis of policy-relevant data. The student develops a facility in distilling the policy relevance of numbers through an analysis of case studies and statistical data sets.
Decision Analysis, Modeling, and Quantitative Methods: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
An integrated course on the use of quantitative techniques in public policy analysis: computer modeling and simulation, linear programming and optimization, decision theory, and statistical and econometric analysis of policy-relevant data. The student develops a facility in distilling the policy relevance of numbers through an analysis of case studies and statistical data sets.
Decision Analysis, Modeling, and Quantitative Methods: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
How do we know whether a program or policy is having its intended impact? This course will cover the methods used to answer this question. The focus will be on quantitative studies, with an emphasis on the econometric techniques used in experimental and non-experimental evaluations. We will also discuss the role of program evaluations in policy analysis and design and the limits to program evaluation as a tool for policy improvement. Examples will be drawn from real-life social policy interventions in domestic and international settings.
Statistics for Program Evaluation: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
This course examines the political and organizational factors involved in developing new policies, choosing among alternatives, gaining acceptance, assuring implementation, and coping with unanticipated consequences. Materials will include case studies, theoretical, empirical, and interpretive works from several disciplines.
The Politics of Public Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
Research seminar to develop public policy analyses based on microeconomic theories of organization, including collective demand mechanisms, behavioral theory of regulatory agencies and bureaucracies, and productivity in the public sector.
Microeconomic Organization and Policy Analysis: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
This course emphasizes the development and application of policy solutions to developing-world problems related to poverty, macroeconomic policy, and environmental sustainability. Methods of statistical, economic, and policy analysis are applied to a series of case studies. The course is designed to develop practical professional skills for application in the international arena.
International Economic Development Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2011, Fall 2005
Studio/laboratory in the design of non-physical environments. Complements courses in policy analysis, public management, economics, and political science; especially intended to integrate elements of professional programs in public policy and related areas. Students will design, in groups and individually, programs and policies that create value in the public sector, including statutes, regulations, and implementation projects. Comparative reviews will feature invited guests. Graduate level of 156.
Program and Policy Design: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Survey of government policy toward the arts (especially direct subsidy, copyright and regulation, and indirect assistance) and its effects on artists, audiences, and institutions. Emphasizes "highbrow" arts, U.S. policy, and the social and economic roles of participants in the arts. Readings, field trips, and case discussion. One paper in two drafts required for undergraduate credit; graduate credit awarded for an additional short paper to be arranged and attendance at four advanced colloquia throughout the term. Graduate level of 157.
Arts and Cultural Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2016
This course discusses and criticizes the conceptual foundations of cost-benefit analysis, and analyzes in depth some important applied aspects such as endogenous prices of other commodities, methods to infer willingness to pay, valuation of life, uncertainty and the rate of discount. The goal of this course is to teach you the theory and practice of cost-benefit analysis, with an eye to preparing you to confidently conduct a CBA for an employer or client starting on day one of your career as a policy analyst. There will be three main components to the course: The textbook, discussion, and the semester project.
Benefit-Cost Analysis: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014
This course is designed to help students develop their skills for leading and managing groups, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and public advocacy, with the goal of achieving positive social change. Materials include case studies, analyses, and works from several disciplines. Course is open to first and second year MPP students, but recommended for first year.
Public Leadership and Management: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
Public sector budgeting is an activity that incorporates many, perhaps most, of the skills of the public manager and analyst. The goal of this course is to develop and hone these skills. Using cases and readings from all levels of American government, the course will allow the student to gain an understanding of the effects and consequences of public sector budgeting, its processes and participants, and the potential impacts of various reforms. Graduate level of Public Policy 179.
Public Budgeting: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
This seminar appraises the critical policy choices that shape the lives of children and adolescents from birth through high school and beyond. The issues are as varied-and hotly debated by politicians and policy-makers-as banning Coke machines in schools to reduce obesity, regulating teenage abortion, providing universal preschool and helping abused children. Students from across the campus-public policy, education, social welfare, business, sociology, political science, economics-bring different perspectives. Discussions and readings draw on insights from across the policy sciences. Problem-solving is the focus in seminar meetings and research projects.
Kid-First Policy: Family, School, and Community: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017
This course is designed to provide graduate students with a deeper understanding of the organization of the political economy of the United States and why earnings and wealth have been diverging over the last thirty-five years. Given that most of the underlying forces causing this trend in the U.S. are also prevalent in other nations, the lessons learned in this course are likely to be relevant elsewhere. The course is also intended to provide insights into the political and public policy debates that have arisen in light of this divergence, as well as possible means of reversing it.
The Political Economy of Inequality: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2016
This advanced graduate seminar will examine the theoretical frames and models used to examine the linkages between energy and development, and the impacts of one on the other.


Energy and Development: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017
This course examines concepts and case studies to illustrate how to be an effective organizational leader in government and the non-profit sector. Topics include formulating and articulating goals; the influence of assets and the external environment; the importance of structure, culture and craft; reforming when resources are scarce; negotiation techniques; and elements of crisis management. students are expected to read all assignments before class and be prepared to be active participants in class discussion, debates and negotiations. The instructor will provide discussion questions for each subsequent session.
PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND POLICY IMPLEMENTATION: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
This course introduces students to spatial data and its analysis, modeling of spatially dependent processes, and related policy problems. Through hands-on analysis, students will learn to extract quantitative information from spatial data for applied research and public policy. Students will be introduced to spatial statistics, spatially dependent simulation, and spatial optimization. Students will learn to think creatively about spatial problems through examples drawn from economics, politics, epidemiology, criminology, agriculture, social networks, and the environment. Students will benefit from prior experience with basic computer programming, although prior experience is not required.
Spatial Data and Analysis: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011
Public policy analysis requires a sophisticated understanding of a variety of types of data. Empirical arguments and counterarguments play a central role in policy debates. Quantitative analysis courses teach you how to analyze data; this course will introduce you to strategies of data collection and principles for critically evaluating data collected by others. Topics include measurement reliability and validity, questionnaire design, sampling, experimental and quasi-experimental program evaluation designs, qualitative research methods, and the politics of data in public policy.
Research Design and Data Collection for Public Policy Analysis: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2016, Fall 2014
This seminar brings together two related frames for policy thinking: the ethics of policy, that is, what does it mean to do the right thing? and the intervention of policy, that is, how do new policy paradigms emerge? Those who seek to govern well inescapably confront questions of value in their political, professional, and personal choices. the discussion of ethical dilemmas, which will take up the first half of the semester, is designed to provoke analytic reflection on the moral challenges and responsibilities of public policymaking in a democracy. The focus is on the many and often competing obligations, commitments and values that should guide public actors, as well as on the public principles that guide the design of good public policy. Politics and conventional analytics dominate policy in the short run. But over the longer term, conceptualizations as varied as exit/voice/loyalty, satisficing, the tipping point, memes, winner-take-all, strong democracy, broken windows, and the prisoners dilemma profoundly influence the policy conservation.
Ethics, Policy, and the Power of Ideas: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2010, Fall 2009, Fall 2008
Most environmental issues involve technology, either in the role of "villain" or "hero." This course uses the lens of specific technologies to survey environmental policy and management, with an emphasis on the complexities of policy-making with diverse interest groups. The class includes case studies, guest practitioners, and a group project in which students employ a range of analytic tools and frameworks in order to develop creative, effective, and actionable environmental solutions.
Environment and Technology from the Policy and Business Perspective: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Summer 2018 10 Week Session, Fall 2017
Energy sources, uses, and impacts; an introduction to the technology, politics, economics, and environmental effects of energy in contemporary society. Energy and well-being; energy international perspective, origins, and character of energy crisis.
Energy and Society: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
The course will review the origins and evolution of nuclear energy, how it has been applied for both peaceful and military purposes, and the current and prospective challenges it presents. The purpose of the course is to educate students on the policy roots and technological foundations of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons so they are positioned to make original contributions to the field in their scholarly and professional careers.
Nuclear Security: The Nexus Between Policy and Technology: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Fall 2015
An extensive examination of contemporary U.S. national security issues and how policy is developed and implemented. Topics include Russia after the Cold War with emphasis on nuclear and biological weapons; crisis decision-making and the key players in national security policy; the struggle against terrorism, especially since 9/11, with some reference to homeland security; the challenges to U.S. policy in the Middle East after the Arab spring; China as the chief great power rival; and the role of unmanned vehicles, cyber, and special operations as key elements of U.S. policy. Students will write policy memos, participate in crisis simulation exercises, and complete a take-home final examination.
US National Security Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2016
Optimization and simulation models in stochastic and deterministic contexts. Monte Carlo simulation, Bayesian models and decisions, linear and nonlinear programming, queing models, and a review of heuristics and biases in individual risk assessment. Hands-on exploration of tools oriented to management and policy decisions in public and nonprofit organizations. Objective for students: lifelong habit of learning and using new analytic methods.
Risk and Optimization Models for Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Course examines current problems and issues in the field of public policy. Topics may vary from year to year and will be announced at the beginning of the semester. Open to students from other departments.
Special Topics in Public Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2014
Open to qualified graduate students wishing to pursue special study and research under direction of a member of the staff.
Directed Advanced Study: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2009, Fall 2008, Spring 2008
Open to qualified graduate students wishing to pursue special research under direction of a member of the staff. Discussion and analysis of dissertation research projects, including conceptual and methodological problems of designing and conducting policy research.
Supervised Research Colloquium: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Discussion and analysis of dissertation research projects, including conceptual and methodological problems of designing and conducting public policy research.
Ph.D. Seminar: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
Course examines current problems and issues in the field of public policy. Topics vary from year to year.
Graduate Student Led Course in Public Policy: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Open to qualified graduate students wishing to pursue special study and research under direction of a member of the staff.
Directed Advanced Study: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016
By arrangement with faculty. Open only to qualified second-year graduate students working toward the M.P.P. degree.
Independent Study in Preparation for the Advanced Policy Analysis: Read More [+]

Terms offered: Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017
This course is directed at Graduate Student Instructors for undergraduate and graduate courses, and reviews the most important elements of effective teaching, especially teaching graduate students in professional programs like the Master of Public Policy. It satisfies the graduate division requirement for a 300 course for GSI's.
GSI Practicum: Read More [+]