Introduction to Public Policy: Authority, Incentive, Persuasion

This course introduces basic concepts of studying and practicing public policy. It is an introduction into SPIA and the many disciplines that make up its faculty, as well a wide range of policy issues: climate change, war, workers' rights, poverty, systemic inequities, food systems, and more. The course will familiarize students with the broader issues involved in analyzing, designing, and implementing public policy, introduce students to three approaches that policy makers use to design and evaluate policy, allowing students to apply these abstract notions to both policy debates and finding solutions.