Methods of Policy Analysis

Readings

[CS] = Simon, Christopher. Public Policy: Preferences and Outcomes. 2nd ed. Routledge, 2009. ISBN: 9780205744824.

SES #	TOPICS	READINGS
I. Foundations
1	Course Description, Goals, and Requirements	Torjman, Sherri. What is Policy? (PDF) Ottawa, Caledon Institute of Social Policy, 2005. Patton, Carl, David Sawicki, et al. Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning. Routledge, 2015. ISBN: 9780137495092. What is Policy Analysis? (PDF - 1.3MB)
2	Policy and Visions of Governance	Stanley, Harold W., and Richard G. Niemi. “Economic Policy.” In Vital Statistics on American Politics 2015–2016. CQ Press, 2015. ISBN: 9781483380315. Lindblom, Charles E. “The Science of ‘Muddling Through’.” Public Administration Review 19, no. 2 (1959): 79–88. ———. “Still Muddling, Not Yet Through.” Public Administration Review 39, no. 6 (1979): 517–26. [CS] Chapter 1.
3	Case: Needles and Safe Injection Sites	Ostrom, Vincent, and Ostrom Elinor. “Public Choice: A Different Approach to the Study of Public Administration.” Public Administration Review 31, no. 2 (1971): 203–16. Runhaar, Hens, Carel Dieperink, et al. “Policy Analysis for Sustainable Development: The Toolbox for the Environmental Social Scientist.” International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 7, no. 1 (2006): 34–56. Dales, J. H. “Beyond the Marketplace.” The Canadian Journal of Economics / Revue Canadienne D’Economique 8, no. 4 (1975): 483–503.
4	Theories of Public Policy: How Choices Are Made	[CS] Chapter 2.
5	Values and Public Policy	Weible, Christopher M. “An Advocacy Coalition Framework Approach to Stakeholder Analysis: Understanding the Political Context of California Marine Protected Area Policy.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 17, no. 1 (2007): 95–117. [CS] Chapter 3.
6	Policy Analysis - Case: Bees, Mites, and Pesticides	Rose, Terra, Claire Kremen, et al. “Policies to Protect Pollinators: Action Needed to Avert a Global Crisis in Agriculture.” (PDF) Berkeley Food Institute, UC Berkeley (2015). (Please read at least pp. 1–11 and p. 43). D. J. P. “The Decline of Bees.” The Economist Explains, September 6, 2015. Tirado, Reyes, Gergely Simon, et al. “Bees in Decline: A Review of Factors that Put Pollinators and Agriculture in Europe at Risk.” (PDF - 2.3MB) Greenpeace Research Laboratories Technical Report (Review) 1 (2013): 1–48. Aubrey, Allison. “Buzz Over Bee Health: New Pesticide Studies Rev Up Controversy,” NPR All Things Considered, April 22, 2015. Sarewitz, Daniel, Roger A. Pielke Jr, and R. Byerly Jr, eds. “Prediction in Science and Policy.” In Prediction: Science, Decision Making, and the Future of Nature. Island Press, 2000, pp. 11–22. ISBN: 9781559637763. [Preview with Google Books] Supplemental Shah, Tina. “Obama Sets Up Task Force to Curb Decline in Honeybee Population,” Tech Times, June 22, 2014. Protecting Bees and Other Pollinators from Pesticides. US Environmental Protection Agency website. Hagopian, Joachim. “Death and Extinction of the Bees,” Global Research, October 4, 2016. Obama, Barack. “Presidential Memorandum–Creating a Federal Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators.” Office of the Press Secretary, The White House (2014).
7	Policy Analysis – Bees, (cont.)	Jones, Nicola, and Cora Walsh. “Policy Briefs as a Communication Tool for Development Research.” (PDF) Overseas Development Institute (ODI), 2008. Decision / Action Memo Examples (PDF - 3.3MB). Harvard Kennedy School, Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. Guide to Document Preparation (PDF). National Institutes of Health, Department of Health & Human Services.
8	Cost of Policy	No new readings assigned
II. Major Policies
9	Defense Policy	2017 White House Budget Proposal (PDF). [CS] Chapter 17.
10	Cost Benefit Analysis	Stiglitz, Joseph E., and Jay K. Rosengard. Chapters 10–11 in Economics of the Public Sector. W. W. Norton & Company, 4th edition, 2015. ISBN: 9780393925227.
11	Cost Benefit (cont.)	———. Chapter 12 in Economics of the Public Sector. W. W. Norton & Company, 4th edition, 2015. ISBN: 9780393925227. Stanley, Harold W., and Richard G. Niemi. “Foreign and Military Policy.” In Vital Statistics on American Politics 2015–2016. CQ Press, 2015, pp. 323–46. ISBN: 9781483380315.
12	Cost-Effectiveness and Regression Analysis – Appalachia Case Study	Glasmeier, Amy. “American Poverty Policy from the 1930s to 2004.” In An Atlas of Poverty in America: One Nation, Pulling Apart 1960–2003. Routledge, 2005. ISBN: 9780415953351. ———. “Appalachia: A Land Apart in a Wealthy Nation.” In An Atlas of Poverty in America: One Nation, Pulling Apart 1960–2003. Routledge, 2005. ISBN: 9780415953351. Systematics, Cambridge. “Economic Impact Study of Completing the Appalachian Development Highway System.” (PDF - 4.2MB) Prepared for the Appalachian Regional Commission, 2008.
III. Policy Process
13	Cost-Effectiveness and Regression Analysis – Poverty in America (cont.)	Moore, Molly. “Appalachia’s Place in the War on Poverty.” Appalachian Voices, April 9, 2014. Ziliak, James P. “The Appalachian Regional Development Act and Economic Change.” University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research, 2010. Supplemental Appalachia: A Report by the President’s Appalachian Regional Commission, 1964. Meade, Erica, and James P. Ziliak. “A State Earned Income Tax Credit: Issues and Options for Kentucky.” (PDF) University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research. Ziliak, James P. “Rhetoric and Reality of the Minimum Wage: Implications for Kentucky.” (PDF) University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research.
14	Welfare – Focus Groups	Stanley, Harold W., and Richard G. Niemi. “Social Policy.” In Vital Statistics on American Politics 2015–2016. CQ Press, 2015, pp. 347–82. ISBN: 9781483380315. Kahan, James P. “Focus Groups as a Tool for Policy Analysis.” Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy 1, no. 1 (2001): 129–46.
15	Social Insurance	Grimble, Robin, Man-Kwun Chan, et al. “Trees and Trade-offs: A Stakeholder Approach to Natural Resource Management.” (PDF) IIED, 1995. Olshansky, Robert B., Laurie A. Johnson, et al. “Rebuilding Communities Following Disaster: Lessons from Kobe and Los Angeles.” Built Environment 32, no. 4 (2006): 354–74. Kretzmann, John P., and John L. McKnight. “Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets.” (PDF) Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research: Evanston, IL, 1993.
16	Health Policy – Vaccination Case Guest: Dr. Howard Heller, Associate Medical Director at MIT Medical	Salmon, Daniel A., Stephen P. Teret, et al. “Compulsory Vaccination and Conscientious or Philosophical Exemptions: Past, Present, and Future.” The Lancet 367, no. 9508 (2006): 436–42. Holland, Mary. “Compulsory Vaccination, the Constitution, and the Hepatitis B Mandate for Infants and Young Children.” (PDF - 2.9MB) Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics 12, no. 1 (2012): 39. Bylander, Jessica. “The United States’ Piecemeal Approach to Vaccine Policy.” Health Affairs 35, no. 2 (2016): 195–8. Omer, Saad B., Jennifer L. Richards, et al. “Vaccination Policies and Rates of Exemption from Immunization, 2005–2011.” New England Journal of Medicine 367, no. 12 (2012): 1170–71. Immunization Policy (PDF) (Courtesy of Dr. Howard Heller. Used with permission).
17	City Government Policy and the Media Guest: David Goodman, City Hall Reporter at The New York Times	Chong, Dennis, and James N. Druckman. “Framing Theory.” Annual Review of Political Science 10, no. 1 (2007): 103–26.
IV. Case Analysis
18	Case: Air Emissions Policy – Federal Policy Guest: Coralie Cooper, Environmental Protection Specialist at Volpe	AirData Monitor Values Report. United States Environmental Protection Agency website. Timeline of Air Quality Policy (PDF). Bennett, David. “Zero Emission Vehicles: The Air Pollution Messiah-Northeastern States Mandate ZEVs without Considering the Alternatives or Consequences.” (PDF - 2.0MB) William & Mary Environmental Law & Policy Review 20, no. 3 (1996): 333. Miller, Paul, and Matt Solomon. “A Brief History of Technology-Forcing Motor Vehicle Regulations.” EM: Magazine for Environmental Managers (2009): 4–8. Toolbox for Regional Policy Analysis Report (2000). Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.
19	Case: Seed Conservation – New England Wild Flower Society; Regional Policy Guest: Debbi Edelstein, Executive Director of New England Wild Flower Society	Farnsworth, Elizabeth. “State of New England’s Native Plants.” (PDF) New England Wild Flower Society, 2015. Global Strategy for Plant Conservation 2011–2020. Convention on Biological Diversity. National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration. U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management.
20	Case: Boston Busing and Desegregation Case; Local Policy Guest: Joe Burnieika, Interim Director at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston	Burnieika, Joseph. Letter, Racially Identifiable Schools, December 8, 1981. Busing in Boston: A Research Guide (PDF). Moakley Archive and Institute. Suffolk University, Boston. Gamm, Gerald. Chapters 1–3 in Urban Exodus: Why the Jews Left Boston and the Catholics Stayed. Harvard University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780674005587.
21	Case: Land Readjustment Case; International Policy	No new readings assigned
22	Final Assignment Work Day	Howlett, Michael, and Adam M. Wellstead. “Policy Analysts in the Bureaucracy Revisited: The Nature of Professional Policy Work in Contemporary Government.” Politics & Policy 39, no. 4 (2011): 613–33.
23–25	Project Presentations	No new readings assigned
26	Wrap Up	No new readings assigned