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GSB 657 Public Policy Analysis

This unit provides students with an understanding of the nature of the public policy making process. Topics include: different perspectives on how public policy comes to be formulated and implemented (with special focus on economic and political approaches); who are the critical actors involved, the function of institutions, and what policy instruments can be employed to achieve outcomes Special emphasis is placed on developing an appreciation of the role of the policy cycle: how issues get on to the agenda, how the substance of policy formulated, and the variables that are involved in determining decisions. The unit also examines the problems inherent in implementing policy proposals, evaluating effectiveness, and ensuring public participation.

Who should do it: This course is oriented to those students who require an understanding of how policy processes function in government and large organizations. Public servants, policy analysts, people who interact regularly with agencies at any of the three levels of government, and managers in establishments such as the defense forces, hospitals, universities and public enterprises, will find the unit useful. So too will those working in large private sector corporations as the operation of these bodies is often similar to government departments.

Assessment: There is no examination for this unit. Rather, the two assignments emphasize the application of recent theoretical research in the field to the practitioner's particular employment situation.
Assessment consists of:

• A weekly chronicle which requires students to consider issues encountered at their workface in terms of perspectives put forward in the policy literature. Each journal entry involves about 400 words and is submitted in two parts (at the end of week 7 and the end of week 12) Total value 40%.
• A case study of 3500 words in which the student researches in some detail a problematic issue arising in their organization (or some other relevant arena) and examines it in terms of theoretical explanations put forward in the policy literature. Total value 60%.