Module POL2102 for 2020/1
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POL2102: Explaining Public Policies
This module descriptor refers to the 2020/1 academic year.
Module Aims
The module helps you understand and explain why policies take the form they do. After the introductory lecture, the module is taught in five 2-week cycles; a theoretical framework will be introduced in the first week and then applied to an empirical setting in the second week through research-led teaching. The tutorials will mirror these lectures and will include student presentations based on the corresponding topics. In addition to encouraging students to think like policymakers, the module will provide links to employability and future career pathways such as the Civil Service, lobbying and policy advisor roles.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. demonstrate understanding of the nature and evolution of core concepts regarding public policy 2. analyse policy problems through key conceptual lenses |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. critically assess the utility of different public policy-oriented theories and methods deployed in policy analysis 4. apply key theoretical tenants to concrete, empirical examples |
| Personal and Key Skills | 5. demonstrate advanced oral and written communication skills (via PowerPoint presentations, course work and assessed essays) 6. successfully use IT for the retrieval and presentation of information |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
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 – Global Tobacco Control and Climate Change
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.
Learning and Teaching
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 |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
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.
Indicative Reading List:
Cairney, P.A. (2020) Understanding Public Policy 2nd edn Palgrave
Dunlop, C.A., Radaelli, C.M. and Trein, J.P. (2018) (eds) Learning in Public Policy: Analysis, Modes and Outcomes, Palgrave
George, A.L. and Bennett, A. (2004) Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences London: MIT Press.
Howlett, M., Wu, X. and Ramesh, M. (2017) (eds) Policy Capacity and Governance: Assessing Governmental Competences and Capabilities in Theory and Practice Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Jenkins-Smith, H.C. (1990) Democratic Politics and Policy Analysis Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Jones, B.D. (2001) Politics and the Architecture of Choice, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Jones, M.D., McBeth, M.K. and Shanahan, E.A. (2014) (eds) The Science of Stories: Applications of the Narrative Policy Framework in Public Policy Analysis Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Lindblom, C.E. (1965) The Intelligence of Democracy New York, NY: The Free Press.
Parsons, W. (1995) Public Policy: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Policy Analysis, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Pierson, P. (2004) Politics in Time Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Schattschneider, E.E. (1960) The Semi-Sovereign People New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Schneider, A. L. and Ingram, H.M. (1997) Policy Design for Democracy Lawrence, KA: University Press of Kansas
Weible, C.M. and Sabatier, P.A. (eds) (2018) Theories of The Policy Process, 4th edn Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Yanow, D. (1996) How Does A Policy Mean? Georgetown University Press.
Zahariadis, N. (2016) Handbook of Public Policy Agenda Setting, Edward Elgar.
Journals: Comparative Politics ; Environmental Politics ; Environmental Values ; European Journal of Public Policy ;Governance ; Health, Risk and Society ; Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management ; Journal of European Public Policy ;Journal of Policy Analysis and Management ; Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (J-PART) ; Journal of Public Policy ; Policy and Politics ; Policy Sciences ; Policy Studies; Policy Studies Journal ; Public Administration ; Public Administration Review ; Public Policy and Administration ; Review of Policy Research ; Risk Analysis ; Risk and Regulation ;Risk, Decision and Policy ; Science and Public Policy
