UAPP 8009 - Exploration of Policy Theory and Frameworks

Credit Hours: 3

Description This course is broadly concerned with public policy theory and research on policy processes in the United States, including democratic theory, multiple streams, and punctuated equilibrium. This course will focus on major policy process theories, explore how policy changes, and examine important empirical contributions to the policy field. The course will examine micro-foundations of policy dynamics through models of individual to organizational decision-making and explore policy agendas, formation of public policies, and the factors influencing change to agendas and policies over time. It will emphasize process approaches to examine policy change rather than substantive issues. However, a focus on policies that impact the urban core, such as housing, education, criminal justice, healthcare, and other social policies, will also be reviewed. This course focuses primarily on American politics but will include select works on comparative policy process perspectives. This is a required core course in the Urban Affairs Ph.D. curriculum. PREREQUISITE(S): Admission to the Ph.D. in Urban Affairs program or permission of instructor.