Public Policy

Instructors

Professor Dr. Pungpond Rukumnuaykit [pungpond_r@yahoo.com]

Dr. Vong-on Phuaphansawat [vphuaphan@hotmail.com]

Dr. Wimonmat Srichamroen [Wimonmat.S@chula.ac.th]

Course Description

An examination of concepts and processes of policy-making models, the coverage of which includes states intervention and its consequences.

Learning Outcomes

1. Students acquire understanding of public policy definition and significance, its roles in addressing public issues, and exhibit knowledge and skills in policy making, evaluation, and analysis applicable to different public-matter topics.

2. Students learn and understand the concepts of economics of public policy such as demand and supply mechanism, the effects of various government policies, markets and welfare, the economics of public sectors, and the economics of labor market.

3. Students are able to identify competing values, ideas, ideologies, class politics and bio-politics behind a policy or policy proposal, and able to identify the implications of that policy or policy proposal on democracy.

Course Contents

Week 1 (WS): Why we need public policy? - Defining public policy and the problem-solving process

Week 2 (WS): Who makes policy and how? – Policy process: Stages Model and Eason’s Systems Model, identifying issues, agenda settings and interest groups

Week 3 (WS): Unboxing the Black Box - Policy environment, policy design and policy tools

Week 4 (WS): Policy in action and measuring success – Policy implementation and evaluation

Week 5 (WS): The art of policy analysis: Bardach & Patashnik’s Eightfold Path
Learning from practitioner "Foreign Policy in Practice"

Week 6 (PR): How Market Works?: Demand, Supply, and Government Policies

Week 7 (PR): Market and Welfare: Efficiency of markets, taxation, and international trade

Week 8 (PR): The economics of public sector: externalities, public goods, and design of tax system

Week 9: Midterms Exams week - No class

Week 10 (PR): The economics of labor markets:
Markets for the factors of production, earning and distribution, inequality, poverty

Week 11 (PR): Learning from an external expert in labor market (from ILO)

Week 12 (VP): Political nature of public policy:

- Competing values in public policy

- Politics of problem definition

- Politics of agenda setting

Week 13 (VP): Capitalism, Class and the state

- Roles of the state in capitalism

- The relationship between public policy and inequalities

Week 14 (VP): Neoliberal policies and their critiques

- What is neoliberalism and neoliberal policies?

- What are their impact?

- How have them been criticized?

Week 15 (VP): Muddling through Thai public policy: Making laws in Thailand

(External expert from Office of the Council of the State)

Week 16 (VP): Governmentality and public policy

- Public policy as medium of governing rationality

- Depoliticizing nature of development policies

Learning and Teaching Methods

Lectures, in-class activities such as discussions, case studies, group work, readings and assignments, external expert talks and discussions.

Learning Resources

Bardach, E., & Patashnik, E. M. (2016). A practical guide for policy analysis: the Eightfold Path to more effective problem solving. Fifth edition. Los Angeles: CQ Press/SAGE. Print.

Birkland, T. A. (2011). An introduction to the policy process Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe.

Kraft, M. E., & Furlong, S. R. (2019). Public policy: Politics, analysis, and alternatives. Cq Press.

Mankiw, Gregory (2018). Principle of Economics (8th Edition), Singapore: Cengage.

Miller, Roger LeRoy, Benjamin, Daniel K., and North, Douglas, C. (2018). Economics of Public Issues (20th Edition), Pearson.

Stone, D. A. (2012). Policy paradox: The art of political decision making. New York: W.W. Norton.

Varoufakis. Y. (2017). Talking to my daughter about the economy: A brief history of capitalism. Penguin Book.

Harvey, D. (2007). A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Dean, M. (1999), Governmentality: Power and Rule in Modern Society. London: Sage.