Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL2102: Explaining Public Policies

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

1. How Do We Explain Policies? What Gives a Theory its Power?

2. Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) and the Role of Luck, Chance and Contingency

3. Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) Case Studies – Tobacco Control and Alcohol Pricing

4. Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET) and Why Policies Change (Sometimes…)

5. Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET) Case Studies – Civil Nuclear Power and Capital Punishment in the US

6. Social Construction of Target Populations (SCTP) – How Policy Decisions Construct Citizens and Democracies

7. Social Construction of Target Populations (SCTP) Case Studies – LGBT Citizens Treatment in Law and Artificial Intelligence

8. Policy Learning – Do Policies Ever Improve Over Time?

9. Policy Learning Case Studies – Hormones in Beef Trade War and Brexit

10. Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) and the Persistent of Stories and Myths in Policy

11. Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) Case Studies – Arab Spring and US Gun Control

12. Combining Theories and Module Recap

N.B. Please note these case studies are indicative, some weeks we may branch out to further empirical examples.

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
27.5	122.5	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	16.5	11 x 1.5 hour lectures
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	11	11 x 1 hour tutorial. Tutorials are based on lecture topics.
Guided Independent Study	5.5	Preparation for seminar presentation
Guided independent study	40	Preparation and writing of essay
Guided independent study	37	Preparation and revision for examination
Guided Independent Study	40	Reading for tutorials

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).