Welcome to Public Policy Analysis:

The U.S. is involved in a presidential election this year. Much of the rhetoric in the election campaign deals with policy issues. Questions are being asked such as:

Should the government cut taxes?

How can we improve the education system in the United States?

Should health care coverage be provided for the poor?

Is the death penalty good policy?

When do environmental protections infringe on personal property rights?

These questions all deal with public policy. We will consider these and many more questions in this class. When you finish with this class you will have some of the tools needed to analyze policy issues and you will have thought about and debated some of the most important issues facing our society.

The Plan of Action:

There are two distinct sections to this class. The first section concentrates on looking at concepts, theories, and models of Public Policy. The second section looks at specific policy areas. Each student will be expected to develop their own policy specialty during the second section of this course. The first week will be used to make sure everyone is comfortable with WebTycho, and the last week will be used to sum the term up.

Developing a Policy Specialty:

During the second half of the course each student will be required to develop a policy specialty. Four or five policy groups will be formed to help group members with the broad policy topics that you have in common. Each student will read two books, of their choice, that deal with a specific policy specialty. All students will have the opportunity to use their knowledge in on-line conferences with all the other students. This will be an excellent chance to develop an expertise in a subject that you are curious about.

The Broad Policy Topics:

I have selected four broad policy areas that will be emphasized during the last half of the class. These policy areas are not set in stone. If you have some other general policy area that you would like to have emphasized, and we can find several other students that want to specialize in that policy area, we can add that policy area. These four policy areas are based on the assumption of 16 to 20 students in the class. If the enrollments are significantly larger or smaller than this we will add or subtract policy areas.

The Four Policy Areas I have chosen are:

1. Criminal Justice

2. Health

3. Education

4. Environment

Let me know if you want to specialize in any other broad policy area.

The WebTycho online environment:

The WebTycho environment is an exciting way to learn, once you learn the basics of getting around in WebTycho. Be sure to take the Tour 101 and to do all the activities listed for the first week of class. Some areas to make sure you have covered are:

1. Make sure you have the right textbooks. (check in the course materials section)

2. Be sure you have adequate access to a computer with good on-line access.

3. Approach any difficulties you may have in the WebTycho online environment with patience and humor. You can get help from the help and support page, from other students, and from me.

Housekeeping Items:

I will do the bulk of my responses to your postings Monday thru Thursday mornings Korea time (around

midnight in Europe, early evening Sunday thru Wednesday in the U.S.). I will also be checking for urgent postings and do minor amounts of responding throughout the rest of the week. I check my e-mail several times a day most days, so if you need something quickly e-mail me directly.

When e-mailing me, please include the message you are responding to in your e-mail. All assignments and attachments through WebTycho should be sent HTML, RTF, or plain text. Keep copies of everything you send me or others and keep copies of all graded assignments.

I am interested in developing ways to use chat rooms or computer phone services to have more direct contact with students. I would welcome your ideas for experimentation with different ways to maintain contact.

Midterm and Final:

The midterm and final will be designed to fit with the on-line environment. They will be take home type

exams with a limited time to finish. The midterm is worth more than the final because it is dealing with policy concepts, theories, and models. The final will be used to help summarize what you have learned in this class.

Book Reviews:

You will be required to read two books in your policy specialty and post a book review for each in the

WebTycho classroom. The conferences in weeks eight and twelve are set aside for these book reviews. Your book reviews need to be completed by Monday of weeks eight and twelve in time for those conferences.

There is no paper requirement for this class so the book reviews are important to you developing a policy specialty. I will grade the book review you post and other students will be commenting on your book review, so make it good. The book review should both describe the approach of the authors and critique what the authors say. Select a book you will enjoy reading and that you will learn about your policy specialty from. Try to choose either unbiased books or choose two books that contrast in their

views.

Participation:

Class Participation is particularly important in a WebTycho class. Keep up on the assignments every week. I will be monitoring your participation rates and the quality of that participation. Every student is expected to post a main topic in response to the conference each week and to respond to at least two other student's topics. Other on-line activities may be required at times throughout the term. This is the minimal amount of participation that is acceptable; many of you will get enthusiastic about the class and participate far more than this minimal standard. Informal participation in the coffee house and by e-mailing other students is encouraged. Your participation in the policy groups will also be part of your class participation grades.

Midterm

300 points

Final

200 points

Book Reviews

(2@150pts)

300 points

Class Participation

200 points

Total

1000 points

90% and up

A

80% to 90%

B

70% to 80%

C

less than 70%

F

After completing this course the student will have an understanding of:

~ What Public Policy is

~ How Policy fits in with the American system of government

~ How agenda setting and decision making affect policy formation

~ The role of budgeting in the policy process

~ The importance of policy evaluation

~ The broad policy issues in at least four areas of policy specialty

~ One policy area in depth

~ How policy fits in with American society

Contact Information:

E-mail address <wise1dean@yahoo.com>

Phone number: 82 (Korea) 31-611-6169 (Songtan).

Please do not hesitate to contact me, I enjoy helping students learn. This syllabus and many good internet links are available on my homepage at: <dr-dean.tripod.com>.

Textbooks required:

Dye, Thomas R., Understanding Public Policy, 9th ed., Prentice Hall, N.J., 1998 ISBN0-13-639105-2

and

Anderson, James E., Public Policymaking, 4th ed., Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2000 ISBN 0-395-96104-1

Week 1

Introductions and WebTycho orientation

Week 2 & 3

Topic 1 - Background of Policy

Week 2 - Dye; ch 1 & 2

Week 3 - Anderson; ch 1 & 2

Week 4 & 5

Topic 2 - Models and Theories

Week 4 - Dye; ch 12 & 13

Week 5 - Anderson; ch 3 & 4

Weeks 6 & 7

Topic 3 - Policy Processes

Week 6 - Dye; ch 14 & 15

Week 7 - Anderson; ch 5, 6, & 7

Specific Policy Areas

Weeks 8

First book review week.

Post a book review by Monday Oct 23rd. It should be approximately 8 to 10 paragraphs in length based on a book you have read in your area of policy specialty. This should be posted as a main topic in the conference set up for this purpose. Make the book review good because it will be graded by the instructor. You will have to comment on two other book reviews.

Week 9

Criminal Justice

Dye; ch 4

Week 10

Health

Dye; ch 5

Week 11

Education

Dye; ch 6

Week 12

Second book review week.

Post a book review by Monday Nov 20th. It should be approximately 8 to 10 paragraphs in length based on a book you have read in your area of policy specialty. This should be posted as a main topic in the conference set up for this purpose. Make the book review good because it will be graded by the instructor. You will have to comment on two other book reviews.

Week 13

Environment

Dye; ch 7

Week 14

Wrap up and final.