Bachelor 2023/2024

Policy Analysis

Type: Compulsory course (Political Science and World Politics)

Area of studies: Political Science

Delivered by: Department of Political Science and International Affairs

Where: Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences

When: 3 year, 1, 2 module

Mode of studies: offline

Open to: students of one campus

Language: English

ECTS credits: 6

Contact hours: 56

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This mandatory course examines the policy process in different political and geographical contexts. The course considers how policy problems are identified and framed, and how interventions are formed and evaluated. Through lectures and interactive seminars based on core literature, policy material and a project exercise, students learn and apply key concepts in policy studies, get first knowledge of the policy cycle from initiation to implementation and evaluation, and examine the actors, interests and institutions (domestic and external) that shape policy processes and outcomes. Different traditions in policy analysis and normative aspects of the policy process are critically examined, including Russia-specific factors of policymaking. The course consists of two parts. The first part concentrates on the main theories and models of the policy process and discusses their implications for applied policy analysis. The second part deals with the topics lying on the intersection of Policy Studies and Policy Analysis such as evidence-based policymaking and policy transfer. This is not an easy course, so students are strongly recommended to organize their schedule in advance and be ready for a significant amount of readings.

Learning Objectives

• The goal of the course is to teach students to analyze the policy process with the use of different theories as well as to give them a basic understanding of policy evaluation methods and principles.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• engages with normative aspects of policy design, including strategies to mainstream rights, evidence-based, and gender- and conflict-sensitive approaches
• identifies policy problems and critically engage with them with various analytical tools and methods
• understands key concepts in policy studies and apply them to/in specific problems/contexts
• conducts prospective assessment of policy options

Course Contents

• Introduction: why are we here?
• What are public policies and why do (not) we want to analyze them? What are public policy problems?
• Why State: state’s role in making public policies. “Carrots, Sermons and Sticks”
• The Policy Cycle approach to public policy studies
• Policy Transfer and Diffusion
• Evidence-Based Policy-Making or Policy-Based Evidence-Making?
• Punctuated Equilibrium Theory
• Multiple Streams Framework
• Advocacy Coalition Framework
• Policy Implementation: Bureaucracy and Compliance
• Qualitative and Quantitative Policy Evaluation
• Policy Legitimation: stakeholders’ engagement, input and output legitimacy
• Policy-making in Russia

Assessment Elements

• In-class participation
  Students are expected to attend each seminar and regularly participate in discussions. The instructor grades the participation during the seminars based on the quality of answers, demonstration of engagement with the assigned readings and home tasks, and overall quantitative involvement in the in-class activities.
• Tests
  There will be two tests covering the material of the preceding lectures and seminars. The tests will include multiple-choice questions as well as open questions. The dates of the tests will be announced in advance.
• Policy paper (team project)
  During the course, students are to prepare a team project — a policy paper advising a governmental or non-governmental body on a topic of the students’ choice. Papers define a clear policy problem (policy failure), are characterized both by empirical and analytical rigor, and provide persuasive policy recommendations on the chosen topic. The paper must analyze the background of a certain policy decision (why and how the government decided to do what it did), why the status quo is problematic, and what can be done to solve the problem). The work on the project wiil feature the preparation of the text, presentation of the results to the instructor and classmates, and the fulfillment of three low-stake written assignments "Checkpoints" aimed at ensuring the continuing work on the policy paper throughout the course and connecting it with the course material.
• Peer review
  After the policy paper is submitted, each student is randomly assigned a policy paper by another team for review. In the review, they must acknowledge the strengths, point out the weaknesses of the paper, and outline suggestions on how the text can be improved. Students are expected to write at least 1,500 characters with spaces. If the threshold is not met, the review automatically receives a grade of 1.
• Final exam

Interim Assessment

• 2023/2024 2nd module
  0.2 * Final exam + 0.2 * In-class participation + 0.15 * Peer review + 0.25 * Policy paper (team project) + 0.2 * Tests

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Cairney, P. (2016). The Politics of Evidence-Based Policy Making. New York: Palgrave Pivot. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1203451
• Thissen, W. A. H., & Walker, W. E. (2013). Public Policy Analysis : New Developments. New York: Springer. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=537663

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Shapiro, S. (2016). Analysis and Public Policy. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1194861

Authors

• STREMOUKHOV DENIS ALEKSANDROVICH