Course Descriptions
PPOL 4100 The American Public Policy System
This course establishes a solid foundation for subsequent study of public policy by focusing on three specific foundational areas: (1) an intensive examination of the inputs of the policy process, including problem definition, social values, governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, legislation and regulations, and events; (2) an assessment of a variety of policymaking models; and (3) a survey of the modern history of American public policy. 4 qtr. hrs. each.
PPOL 4400 Analytical and Critical Skills
Provides the tools to analyze competing (and often ideological) points of view using empirical techniques and statistical inference as a key to creating better public policy based on evidence. Case studies are drawn from the current legislative and regulatory environment and provide opportunities to construct a course of action based on the use of logically consistent arguments and on the persuasive use of facts and empirical data. 4 qtr. hrs. each.
PPOL 4600 Regulatory Policy
This course opens with a brief exploration of the economic, jurisprudential and constitutional foundations of regulatory policy and the administrative process. Key topics include regulation by legislation versus regulation by agency action; agency rule making; agency adjudication; and deregulation. Emphasis is placed on the competing roles of government and nongovernmental stakeholders. Students complete a cost-benefit analysis of the administrative performance at an independent federal regulatory agency. 4 qtr. hrs. each.
PPOL 4700 Public Management and Budgeting
This course provides an in-depth look at public management and budgeting, including strategic planning for outcomes and policy objectives; budget construction and methodologies, such as line item budgeting, zero-based budgeting, program budgeting and performance budgeting; principles of structural balance, including revenues, expenditures, funds and proper reserves; and managing with flexibility, competition and accountability.
The course also focuses on the intervening role of taxpayer initiatives, transparency, lobbying, media and politics. At the end of the course, students propose and defend a budget before a panel of budget experts selected from state and local government. 4 qtr. hrs. each.
PPOL 4200 Microeconomics for Public Policy Analysis (Quantitative Series 1/3)
Economics is about choice, and microeconomic theory begins with how consumers and producers make choices. Economic agents interact in markets, so the courses examine the role markets play in allocating resources. Theories of perfect and imperfect competition are studied, emphasizing the relationship between market structure and market performance. This is a course aimed at developing an understanding of microeconomics models. It focuses on how economists use theory to explain and predict the effects of public policy on individuals and market equilibrium, with application to current policy examples. 4 qtr. hrs. each.
PPOL 4300 Quantitative Methods for Public Policy Analysis (Quantitative Series 2/3)
The objective of this course is to provide the knowledge and skills necessary to categorize, describe, analyze and interpret data that can inform public policy decision making and contribute to our understanding of the impact of public policies. This course emphasizes the application of statistical concepts and methodologies to the analysis of social issues in public policy, including the limitations of quantitative methods in generating answers to social policy questions. 4 qtr. hrs. each.
PPOL 4500 Cost-Benefit Analysis (Quantitative Series 3/3)
The aim of this course is to build on the quantitative tools acquired in the previous two quantitative courses (microeconomics and quantitative methods) by using them to do real policy analysis. This course enables the student to balance the qualitative and quantitative aspects of policy analysis and to utilize the cost-benefit approach to recommend a course of action. 4 qtr. hrs. each.
Great Issues Forum Descriptions
The Ballot Initiative Process
Instructor: Alexis Senger (chief legislative analyst, Joint Budget Committee, Colorado General Assembly).
The ballot initiative process has been called the “unexamined arena of power politics.” In Colorado, it has been used to hold down homeowners’ property taxes (Gallagher Amendment); increase state spending requirements for K–12 education (Amendment 23); limit state government revenues (Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights); and place term limits on elected officials. This forum examined the initiative process from both theoretical and practical perspectives using case studies and explored the question, “What happens when direct democracy converges with representative democracy?” 2 qtr. hrs.
Education Policy
Instructor: Peter C. Groff (president, Colorado State Senate; executive director, DU Center for African American Policy).
This forum featured discussion of education funding, state-mandated standards, school vouchers and Colorado Amendment 23. The forum included presentations by a diverse group of policy professionals, including representatives of the Colorado Children’s Campaign, Colorado League of Charter Schools, Colorado Department of Education, Colorado Education Association and Colorado Association of School Boards. 2 qtr. hrs.
Entitlements: The Public Policy of Medicare and Social Security Reform
Instructors: Richard D. Lamm (Colorado governor, 1975–1987) and Sarah Kuehl (senior analyst, U.S. Senate Budget Committee).
This forum was an in-depth examination of the fiscal challenges of an aging America, focusing largely on Social Security and Medicare programs. Topics included important demographic trends, the budget implications of an aging society, various reform proposals and the role of interest groups in the debate. 2 qtr. hrs.
Faith and Public Policy
Instructor: Peter Groff (president, Colorado State Senate and Executive Director of the Center for African American Policy).
This forum left students with a clearer understanding of the role faith plays and has played in policy, the impact of faith in creating current policy and the role faith will play in the 2008 elections. 2 qtr. hrs.
Foundations of American Government
Instructor: Andrew Busch (professor, Government Department, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, Calif.).
Foundations of American Government was an overview of the founding personalities, principles and documents of the United States. This forum was a guide to the foundations of American government and a key to understanding modern public policy. 2 qtr. hrs.
Imagine a Great City: The Public Policy of Great Cities
Instructor: Peter C. Groff (president, Colorado State Senate; executive director, Center for African American Policy).
Imagine a Great City provided students with an understanding of the creation of public policy for a major American city. Using Denver as a case study, the forum looked at how cities develop; social class; race, ethnicity and gender; housing; education; crime; and the impact of the suburbs on a city’s public policy. The forum featured presentations by two former Denver mayors, Federico Peña (managing director, Vestar Capital Partners; U.S. Secretary of Transportation, 1993–1997; U.S. Secretary of Energy, 1997–1998) and Wellington E. Webb (president, Webb Group International). 2 qtr. hrs.
Immigration Policy
Instructor: Richard D. Lamm (Colorado governor, 1975–1987).
This forum examined the history of American immigration policy and the contemporary pressures for reform. Important topics included questions of assimilation and the interpretations of what it means to be an American; history of U.S. immigration law starting with the “Great Wave” of immigration in the 1880s; changes in immigration policy in the 1920s and 1960s; and policy reasons both for immigration and for limiting immigration. 2 qtr. hrs.
Messages and Meaning: Public Relations in the Context of Public Policy
Instructor: Jeffrey Levine (senior vice president of Healthcare Media Relations, Hill & Knowlton, Washington, D.C.).
This forum looked at the use of public relations to advance public policy. Important topics included message development; the symbiotic relationship between news and PR; and the different ways public relations, public affairs and journalism use messaging. 2 qtr. hrs.
National Security
Instructor: Christopher Carr (professor, U.S. Air Force, Air War College, Montgomery, Ala.).
All professions have their own discrete language and cultural mores, but the defense sector is more opaque and separate than most professions. Indeed, secrecy is an inherent element of national security policy. This forum provided a comprehensive analysis of the structure and function of the national security community, as well as an overview of American strategic priorities. 2 qtr. hrs.
Polling and Elections
Instructor: Michael McKenna (MWR Strategies, Washington, D.C.).
During the dramatic mid-term campaign of 2002, Michael McKenna, a Washington, D.C., pollster, presented a forum on the methodology, importance and limitations of polling. This forum concluded with a presentation by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (an IPPS partner organization) of an international Sept. 11-related poll conducted by the GMF and the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. 2 qtr. hrs.
The Subprime Mortgage Crisis
Instructor: Richard D. Lamm (Colorado governor, 1975–1987).
This forum explored the dimensions of the economic crisis involving policy makers, which involves securitization and its ramifications for the economy in a time of recessionary trends. 2 qtr. hrs.
America’s Unresolved Public Policy Issues
Instructors: Richard D. Lamm (Colorado governor, 1975–1987) and Bill Owens (Colorado governor, 1999–2007).
This forum covered such topics as social security, health care, global warming and terrorism in relation to public policy. 2 qtr. hrs.
For More Information
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http://www.du.edu/ipps for more information on the program.