Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL3089: Policy in Action

This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.

Module Aims

This module aims to ensure:

 

  • You are familiar with the basic approaches and perspectives of analysing the implementation of public policies.
  • You understand the different stages, outcomes and particularities of implementation processes.
  • You have basic knowledge of the existing evidence regarding different factors affecting the successful implementation of public policies.
  • You have acquired the analytical skills to evaluate the implementation of public policies on your own, and to reflect critically on other implementation studies

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Explain the role and perspectives of different actors involved in policy implementation;
2. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the complexities of implementing public policies at different governance levels;
3. Evaluate critically settings to implement public policies;
4. Identify examples of policy implementation good or bad practice in the literature and produce a critical evaluation of the lessons that can be drawn;
5. Describe the main difficulties in reaching a successful policy implementation;
Discipline-Specific Skills6. Think critically, analyse debates and present coherent arguments on politics;
7. Evaluate the effectiveness of policy;
8. Understand in-depth the reasons for and barriers to policy intervention;
9. Critically apply theories of political science and international relations to real-life political situations;
Personal and Key Skills10. Effectively communicate complex topics in a coherent and well structured manner;
11. Interact with fellow students in a cooperative manner
12. Reflect critically on learning outcomes;
13. Work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

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: 

  • Implementation theory: Top-down or bottom-up?
  • Going hybrid: Third generation implementation perspectives
  • Who complies with the European Union?
  • It’s domestic politics, stupid!
  • European Union policies “in action”
  • Federalism, decentralization, and distributive justice
  • Frontline policy implementation
  • Discriminating bureaucrats? Street-level bureaucracy and social equity
  • “You can’t make me do it”: Accountability and enforcement
  • Hybridization and for-profit policy implementation

Learning and Teaching

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

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
44256

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

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities4422 x two hour seminars
Guided Independent Study60Guided reading
Guided Independent Study53Preparation of presentations
Guided independent study 143Essay preparation - conducting research, analysing data, writing the finished product

Online Resources

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

 

Street-level bureaucracy, explained in brief by Michael Lipsky:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX1IivgPspA

 

 

Other Learning Resources

http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=168656/ 

 

You can find lots of advice relating to essay writing at:

http://www.services.ex.ac.uk/cas/employability/askills/essay/index.htm

 

You can also find other useful advice related to general study skills at: http://www.services.ex.ac.uk/edu/student-learning-skills/resources.shtml

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Epp, C.R., Maynard?Moody, S. and D. Haider?Markel. 2017. Beyond Profiling: The Institutional Sources of Racial Disparities in Policing. Public Administration Review 77(2): 168-178.

 

Falkner, G., Hartlapp, M. and O. Treib. 2005. Complying with Europe: EU harmonisation and soft law in the member states. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 

Hill, M. and P. Hupe. 2014. Implementing Public Policy. London: Sage publications.

 

Lipsky, M. 1980/2010. Street-Level Bureaucracy: The Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services . New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

 

Treib, O. 2014. Implementing and complying with EU governance outputs. Living Reviews in European Governance 9(1), DOI: 10.12942/lreg-2014-1.