POLISCI 320W : Public Policy

This course teaches the following substantive lessons: 1. Students will learn how to conduct policy research and offer recommendations to solve a problem and execute that solution. 2. Public policy is a political process. This class will focus upon various aspects of that process including problem identification, agenda-setting, policy-making, and implementation. Policy Brief In this course, you will write one policy brief in four parts. The policy briefs answer each of these questions: 1. What is the policy problem under investigation? Why is this issue a problem? 2. According to scholarly research, what are the causes of the problem? According to scholarly research, what are the consequences of the problem? According to scholarly research, what are the best solutions to ameliorate the problems? Scholarly sources include refereed-journal articles, books written by academics, and research reports. They don’t include newspaper articles or stories. 3. How do places similar to the place under investigation address these problems? Be specific. What are the effects of their efforts? 4. How have places employed best practices to address these problems? Be specific. What are the effects of their efforts? 5. Based on your research and your answers to parts 2-4 above, which course of action should the place under investigation take to address these problems? Why? 6. Use the logic model to specify how the place under investigation should implement this policy. 

This course satisfies the advanced writing skills course requirement.