Public Policy Schedule: Summer I, 2014
Professor Wayne Hayes | ENST20750 #30213

|PP Home |Syllabus | Bulletin Board
TOC: Key Dates, Part I, Part II, Part III
Weeks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 agenda

This schedule page provides the sequence of activities for Public Policy, ENST20750, offered by Professor Wayne Hayes for the Sumer Session I semester at Ramapo College. The schedule defines the due dates for assignments and the weekly flow of the course.

Important Dates ^

Our summer session I course officially starts on May 27 and ends on June 30. Please note the important due dates for written assignment below:

The papers should be delivered by the end of the day on the dates listed above.

Week #1: Introduction to the Course: May 27 - June 3 ^

The first week introduces you to the course and starts the Public Policy Cycle with the agenda stage. This moves fast, culminating in an essay that counts 20 points, due on June 3. After I review and grade your essay, I will set up a telephone conference to discuss your work.

May 27: Please email me the first day of our course, May 27:

Also, register at our course Wiki and check into our course Bulletin Board. The Bulletin Board provides current information and should be checked several times each week. (I can track your activity on the Wiki and will use it in considering your participation grade.)

Course Material: Syllabus, Schedule, Web Site, Wiki ^

Orient yourself to these basic tools that deliver the online course:

  1. The Syllabus explains intent and goals, grading, and expectations and responsibilities. You may regard the syllabus as a core reading of the class.
  2. This Schedule provides the flow of the course, defining how the course unfolds.
  3. The Bulletin Board will change frequently and should be consulted as you open your computer for class-related activities. The Bulletin Board will reference material delivered on our wiki, http://worldsustainability.pbworks.com/. You must check the course wiki frequently for updates. I will post short assignments to monitor how you are progressing, to be included in the participation grade. My wiki account builds a file of all correspondence which I will use in considering the participation grade.
  4. Please use my Ramapo College email account, whayes@ramapo.edu, for all course correspondance with me. If you find anything unclear about the delivery of the course, please include your question in your May 27 email, described above.
  5. A brief Preface explains where this web site came from, why I use it, and where it is going.

Introduction To Public Policy ^

Please carefully and diligently study these web-based documents:

  1. Introduction
  2. Orientation
  3. Premises
  4. The limits to public policy
  5. The legacy of Malthus: public policy as the dismal science
  6. A brief word on ideology in public policy
  7. Trial run: What is your political ideology?, a web-based quiz game. Please tell me by email how you did with this exercise.

How to study Public Policy ^

  1. Introducing the study of public policy
  2. Why study public policy?
  3. The scope of public policy
  4. What are the general approaches to public policy and which is adopted here?
  5. Definitions of public policy
  6. How to study public policy
  7. The public policy cycle as a method

Agenda-Setting and Power

  1. Introduction to agenda-setting
  2. Setting the agenda
  3. Definitions: simple and explanatory
  4. Agenda typology
  5. Who sets the agenda and how
  6. How to study the agenda
  7. Bias and the exercise of power
  8. Examine several cases of agenda-setting with a focus on sustainability.

Essay on Introduction, How to Study Public Policy, and Agenda is due by the end of the day on Tuesday, June 3. Counts 20 points. See definition and instructions.

Week #2: Formulation, Parts I and II, June 2 - June 6 ^

Formulation I and II are fundamental to understanding public policy and should be treated as a unit. Take notes as you proceed in preparation of the essay on the Public Policy Cycle.

Formulation I: Policy Analysis and Prescription ^

  1. Transition from agenda to policy formulation
  2. Introduction to policy formulation
  3. Defining policy formulation
  4. Skills of policy analysis
  5. The foundations of American public policy making
  6. Illustrative cases

Formulation II: Policy Authorization and Politics ^

  1. Politics and policy formulation
  2. Case study: Stephen Labaton, A NEW FINANCIAL ERA: THE OVERVIEW; ACCORD REACHED ON LIFTING OF DEPRESSION-ERA BARRIERS AMONG FINANCIAL INDUSTRIES, New York Times, October 23, 1999 -- and, yes, this contributed to the speculation that recently took down the financial system.
  3. Case study: Gail Russell Chaddick, Critical Energy Bill Crafted in Secrecy, Christian Science Monitor, October 2, 2003.
  4. Iron triangles
  5. Incrementalism
  6. Policy overhaul
  7. Please view Bill Moyers America: Capitol Crimes, Public affairs Television, 2006.

Week #3: Implementation, Budget, and Evaluation, June 9 - June 13 ^

In this week, we conclude the public policy process with an examination of implementation, budget, and evaluation.

Implementation ^

  1. Introduction to implementation
  2. Note cartoon reflecting implementation
  3. Defining implementation. Discussion: Can implementation work well?
  4. Cases of implementation, good and bad
  5. Traditional Public Administration, including bureaucracy
  6. Successful Implementation: Liberal and Conservative views

Budget ^

  1. Budget overview
  2. Define budget
  3. The budgetary process
  4. Overall discussion of US budget and examination of significant summary tables, especially Table S-6, Budget Summary by Categories
  5. Try a sophisticated budget simulation --- playing the game may surprise you
  6. Incrementalism, once again
  7. State and local budgets, with emphasis on current state budget stress

Evaluation

  1. Transition: closing the loop
  2. Introduction to evaluation
  3. Evaluation defined
  4. Evaluation explained in context
  5. Explanatory cases of evaluation
  6. Historical roots of evaluation research
  7. Formal evaluation
  8. Informal evaluation

The Public Policy Cycle section of the course ends with an essay that asks you to explain the Public Policy Cycle. This assignment counts 32 points, based on depth and content. This essay is due by the end of the day on June 16.

Week #4: Setting a World Sustainability Policy Agenda, June 16 to June 20 ^

This second section of the course examines the public policy aspects of sustainability. Our main text is Lester Brown's World on the Edge, supplemented with notes from the instructor and links to the Internet. The final paper assignment is due by the end of the day, June 30. This section is the payoff of the course, providing a challenge that asks you to join a discussion on the public policy aspects of sustainability, a daunting mission.

In week four, please read the two sections below.

Week #4 Part I: The Origins of Sustainable Development

This section sets the stage and introduces Sustainable Development. Please become familiar with the seminal document on sustainability, the Brundtland Commission Report:

  1. Browse the Brundtland Report and sample its findings and logic. This is a seminal historical document, so browse to get the tone, substance, and organization of the report -- don't even try to read the whole document, be selective.
  2. Read the important Overview, noting the way that sustainable development was framed and the language used to define sustainable development, quoted below. Read the Brundtland section on sustainable development carefully. This section is short and important.
  3. See Professor Hayes's wiki on Brundtland Commission Report and Sustainable Development.
  4. View Professor Hayes's PowerPoint presentation on sustainability and the Brundtland Commission Report.
  5. Recommended as background, especially for Environmental Studies and Environmental Science students: Will Steffen, Paul J. Crutzen, and John R. McNeill, "The Anthropocene: Are Humans Now Overwhelming the Great Forces of Nature?," Ambio, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Vol. 36, No. 8, December, 2007. This bold article defines a new era in Earth history, the Anthropocene, the successor to the Holocene.

Week #4 Part II: Setting a Global Agenda: Lester R. Brown, World on the Edge

Part I of World on the Edge offers Brown's agenda and comprehensively defines the global crisis, offering specific goals. This analysis is empirical and current. (There are surprisingly few accessible books on global sustainability policy.) Read this section closely in week four to assess the global crisis and grasp an agenda built around goals that frame a policy response. Notice that Brown provides policy analysis but does not grapple with the political feasibility of the policy proposals produced by his analysis.

This provides a timely round-up of challenges to the biosphere and human inhabitation of Earth. Notice that this book is classified as Science/Environment. Brown carries weight for his diagnosis, but he does not comment extensively on political or economic aspects. I will supplement Brown with my lecture notes, below.

  1. Lester Brown, World on the Edge, Preface and Part I, A Deteriorating Foundation and Part II, The Consequences, through page 97. Hear Lester Brown in his own words connecting the limits to population and economic growth to his Plan B. This video reinforces the book, World on the Edge. Note: The Earth Policy Institute web site provides a free pdf version of World on the Edge.
  2. Professor Hayes prepared a PowerPoint presentation on Lester Brown, World on the Edge, Part I, A Deteriorating Foundation.
  3. The following notes were composed for an earlier version of Brown's Plan B. My notes are a bit dated but are still useful for World on the Edge. Although Brown has updated his information and modified his analysis slightly, the thrust of his Plan B has not changed greatly. Professor Hayes has provided recommended background notes that supplement Brown on the global crisis: notes supplementing and setting up Brown with sections on Beyond the Oil Peak, Global Warming, Natural Systems Under Stress and on The Social Divide.
  4. New York Times video: Class Dismissed: The Death of Female Education. The video presents a policy champion for the education of girls and demonstrates vividly the tragedy of a failed state, basic social themes in World on the Edge.
  5. Play The U.S. Oil Policy Simulation

Week #5: Formulating An Earth Restoration Plan, June 23 to June 30 ^

In week five, please read the policy remedies recommended by Lester Brown:

  1. Study Lester Brown's World on the Edge: Part III: The Response, Plan B, pp. 99 - 180 and Part IV: Watching the Clock, pp. 181 - 202. These chapters encompass global sustainability policy formulation, implementation, and offers a budget. Brown offers four goals by which success can be evaluated. These goals drive his analysis.
  2. The Earth Policy Institute web site provides a summary slide show presentation.
  3. Professor Hayes introduction to Brown's overall discussion of energy, demand, and supply, focused on both climate and energy. (My notes were originally developed around Brown's prior book Plan B, but remain consistent with World on the Edge.
  4. See my notes, Presentation of Plan B as integrated policy formulation around the main themes of energy and climate, social aspects of sustainability, and the restoration of nature.
  5. Video: Renewable Energy, The History Channel. This remarkable video brings to life Brown's vision of a sustainable energy future.
  6. Examine the Atlantic Wind Connection for a compelling project now underway off the Jersey coast.
  7. Recommended: View PBS Wide Angle: The Burning Season. Note: this site does not always load properly, so give it a second try.

Your report on sustainability policy will be due by the end of the day on June 30.

The Public Policy Cycle Web Site | Page: © Wayne Hayes, Ph.D. | ™ ProfWork | wayne@profwork.com
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