Public Policy Studies Courses

213. Managing the Environment (=EnvStd 213, NCD 213, LL/Soc 213). PQ: Econ 198 or higher. This course analyzes human interaction with and intervention in the environment. Topics include resource management, environmental and economic policy, environmental law, business initiatives, and global environmental legislation. Also assesses major national legislation on the superfund, resource conservation and recovery, air quality, water quality, hazardous chemicals, and endangered species. D. Coursey. Winter.

221. Politics and Policy (=PolSci 282). PQ: Open to non-public policy studies and political science concentrators with consent of instructor. Subject to individual prerequisites. PubPol 221-222-223 may be taken in sequence or individually. Public policy choices interact with politics in obvious ways (elections) but also in subtler ways, turning especially on how organizations work and what governs persuasion and belief. This course surveys some key aspects of these interactions. H. Margolis. Spring.

222. Economics and Policy Analysis. PQ: Econ 200. Subject to individual prerequisites. PubPol 221-222-223 may be taken in sequence or individually. This course extends the analytic tools developed in Econ 200. Emphasis is placed on the limitations of economic analysis as well as the interplay between economic and political issues. D. G. Johnson. Winter.

223. Problems of Policy Implementation (=PolSci 249, Sociol 340). PQ: Subject to individual prerequisites. PubPol 221-222-223 may be taken in sequence or individually. This course is a systematic examination of the interplay among the executive, the administrator, the legislator, and the public as these relationships affect policy and its undertaking. Emphasis is on the politics of administration as well as those political forces that organize around the implementer of public policies. R. Taub. Autumn.

230. Organizational Analysis (=Sociol 209/331). A systematic, critical introduction to theoretical and empirical work on complex organizations broadly conceived, such as public and private economic organizations, government bureaus, prisons, hospitals, professional associations, and political parties. Topics include intraorganizational questions about organizational goals and effectiveness, communication, authority, and decision-making subsystems as well as selective recruitment, socialization, and promotion of personnel. Some consideration is given to organization-environment interactions, especially interorganizational transactions. E. Laumann. Spring.

245. Urban Economics (=Econ 266, Geog 266/366). PQ: Econ 201. This course deals with the economics of spatial processes and structures within the city: residential location, employment location, and spatial-temporal change. We also consider spatial aspects of the public economic activity within a city and relationships between cities and suburbs; externalities in cities; and geographical structures of Third World cities. G. Tolley. Autumn.

247. Family Structure and Poverty. Covers the difference in the causes and consequences of poverty among the families of single parents and married couples. The role of social welfare policies in shaping family structure is also discussed. S. Mayer. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.

248/348. Urban Policy Analysis (=PolSci 342, Sociol 256/329). This course addresses the explanations available for varying patterns of policies that cities provide in terms of expenditures and service delivery. Topics include theoretical approaches and policy options, migration as a policy option, group theory, citizen preference theory, incrementalism, economic base influences, and an integrated model. Also examined are the New York fiscal crisis and taxpayer revolts, measuring citizen preferences, service delivery, and productivity. T. Clark. Autumn.

253. Social Welfare in the United States (=SocSci 253). This course examines the evolution of social welfare provisions in American society. Special emphasis is placed on who is helped and who is not, in what forms, under what auspices, and with what goals. The changing nature of helping is analyzed, with particular attention to the changing role of the state. We focus on the poor, children and families, and the mentally ill. Some comparisons are made with other industrialized countries. H. Richman. Spring.

258. Public Choice (=Econ 269, PolSci 235). PQ: Knowledge of microeconomics. This course is an introduction to the major ideas in the literature and seeks to apply the economic notion of rational choice to the context of politics and social choice. H. Margolis. Winter.

260/384. Policy Analysis in Education (=Educ 266/366, PolSci 336). This course serves as the analytical foundation for students interested in education policy. It introduces analytical perspectives in the study of public policy, with emphasis on education. Among the topics are institutional analysis, the bargaining model, the rational actor paradigm, the organizational bureaucratic model, and the "policy typology" school. K. Wong. Autumn.

262-263/390-391. Field Research Project in Public Policy I, II (=PolSci 346-347). PQ: Open to non-public policy studies concentrators with consent of instructor; students must register for both quarters. Students work on a research team to prepare a report on an important public policy problem for a governmental agency, large public-interest group, or community-based organization; this project includes development and implementation of a research strategy designed to answer the policy questions. The objective is preparation of a publishable report. Staff. Winter, Spring.

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264-265. Research Project in Sociology and Public Policy (=PolSci 236-237, Sociol 283-284). This two-quarter sequence acquaints advanced College students with specific research experience. It includes reading, hypothesis development, and research design in autumn, and completion of research projects in winter. Starting from an overview of urban policy analysis, we focus on leadership patterns of public officials and their implications for urban finance and economic development. What strategies encourage or discourage fiscal health and economic development? Which specific cities and leaders have followed different sets of strategies and with what consequences? What shifts in urban political cultures have accompanied different sets of policies? Case studies of individual cities and projects and comparative analyses across cities are used. Meets with Sociol 256 in autumn and Sociol 410 in winter. T. Clark. Autumn, Winter.

266/367. Critical Issues in Education (=Educ 267/367). PQ: Consent of instructor. This course focuses on contemporary issues of educational policy in the broader political and institutional context. Topics might include federal policy development and implementation; school finance, academic excellence, and teacher competency; racial equity and school desegregation; public-private school differences; and big-city school politics--race, unions, and the economy. Scholarly research frames the discussion, along with an evaluation of contemporary policy recommendations from both governmental and nongovernmental sources. K. Wong. Spring.

267. Metropolitan Development and Planning (=Geog 267/367, Sociol 247). PQ: Third- or fourth-year standing. Focuses on metropolitan development patterns and the interplay of geopolitical, economic, and social changes in U.S. cities after 1950. Intergovernmental relations, and concepts and institutions of urban planning are also explored. Policies for economic development, land-use management, housing, education, transportation, energy, and the environment are analyzed by region. D. Holleb. Spring.

270. Introduction to International Economics (=Econ 270). PQ: Econ 201, 202, or consent of instructor. This course deals mainly with the pure theory of international trade--the real side of international economics. Topics include the basis for and benefits of trade; the theory of comparative advantage; effects of international trade on distribution of income; tariffs and other barriers to trade; and the role of exchange rates. L. Sjaastad. Autumn.

286/375. Problems of Economic Policy in Developing Countries (=Econ 296). PQ: Econ 201, 202, or consent of instructor. This course focuses on the application of economic analysis to economic policy issues frequently encountered in developing countries. Topics include sources of economic growth, commercial policy, regional economic integration, inflation and stabilization, the problem of fiscal deficits, the choice of the exchange rate regime, and the international debt problem. L. Sjaastad. Winter.

289. Senior Seminar. PQ: Open only to fourth-year public policy studies concentrators. Must be taken for a letter grade. Staff. Autumn.

295. Reading and Research. PQ: Open only to public policy studies concentrators. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

296. Internship: Public Policy. PQ: Consent of instructor. Open only to public policy studies concentrators. Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form. After working for a government agency or not-for-profit organization, students write a paper about the experience with the guidance of a faculty member. Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

330. Changing Climate: Hazards and Opportunity (=Geog 229/329). PQ: Second-year standing. There are strong indications that anthropogenic gases in the earth's atmosphere have already reached concentrations sufficient to cause noticeable changes within the next thirty to fifty years, regardless of any remedial actions that might be taken in the near future. This course examines the effects which are likely to arise on a global and regional basis and how societies might best adjust to the changes as they occur. Particular attention is paid to energy use and the effects of agriculture and coastal inundation, but other effects are also considered. P. Campbell. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.

335. Organizational Decision Making (=PolSci 275/375, Sociol 350). This course is an examination of the process of decision making in modern complex organizations such as universities, schools, hospitals, businesses, and public bureaucracies. The course also considers the impact of information, power, resources, organizational structure, and the environment, as well as alternative models of choice and other implications. J. Padgett. Autumn.

336. Political Sociology (=PolSci 349, Sociol 235/335). PQ: One general social sciences course. This course reviews basic themes and major works in political sociology using the following analytical perspectives: citizen preference theory, public choice, group theory, bureaucrats and state-centered theory, coalition theory, elite theories, and political culture. These competing analytical perspectives are assessed in considering middle-range theories and empirical studies on central themes of political sociology. T. Clark. Spring.

347. Urban Structure and Decision Making (=Sociol 255/328). This course examines the socioeconomic characteristics of cities that affect their patterns of political leadership and decision making. Topics include: theoretical perspectives, institutional aspects of intergovernmental relations, the rise of the welfare state and its implication for cities, the socioeconomic makeup of cities, suburban-central city relations, urbanization, residential choice, citizen participation (the elitist and populist theories of democracy), and patterns of power and decision making. T. Clark. Spring.

392. Social Policy in Europe, 1815 to the Present (=Educ 391). PQ: Consent of instructor. This course examines the antecedents, evaluation, and alleged crises of the welfare state, with emphasis on policies concerning education, the family, the labor market, income distribution, health, and regional development. Themes include the social, intellectual, and political origins of social policies; the diffusion of various models of the welfare state; and how social policies have interacted with the opportunities and choices of individuals and nonpublic corporate actors. J. Craig. Winter.

393. Social Stratification and Education Organization (=Educ 218/318, Sociol 230/338). This course presents a review of formulations of education's place in the system of social stratification and focuses on the organization of school systems, schools, and classrooms. Attention is given to the ways in which conceptions of educational organization and of stratification can be related to each other. R. Dreeben, C. Bidwell. Winter.

394. Economics of Education (=Econ 264/343, Psych 223/323). Theories of human capital and alternative theories (e.g., signaling and dual labor market theory) are applied to the determinants of educational choice and their implications for life cycle earnings, the distribution of income, and economic growth. R. Willis. Not offered 1995-96; will be offered 1996-97.

397. The Macrosociology of Education (=Educ 217/317, Sociol 275/337). This course is a general survey of the relationships between education and other major societal subsystems treated in historical and comparative perspective. Particular attention is given to relations among the schools, economy, polity, and systems of stratification. C. Bidwell, R. Dreeben. Autumn.

403. Urban Political Economy and Resource Allocation (=SSA 482, Sociol 222). This course draws from a broad interdisciplinary literature to create frameworks for analyzing the functioning of urban institutions and the formation of public policies. Using the city of Chicago as a laboratory for empirical study, the course examines economic, political, and sociological perspectives of cities; analyzes the role of government and of the private sector in the creation and implementation of public policies; and discusses the role of political influence in policy formation and administration. Questions of real and symbolic allocation, race and poverty, and political empowerment are examined to enable the student to design and implement better strategies for social change. P. Cafferty. Autumn.

405. The Sociology and Politics of Community Development (=SSA 484, Sociol 224). This course studies specific Chicago-area communities so that students may examine the creation and implementation of public policies from the perspective of their impact on individual and community. We also explore the role of political and public institutions as well as private agencies and community-based organizations in bringing about social change. We perform research in the field to evaluate opportunities for community-based problem solving and strategies for change. P. Cafferty. Spring.

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