Graduate Program in Public Policy
Courses & Curriculum
The Master of Public Policy (MPP) is a 60-hour, two-year program. Students must complete:
The American Public Policy System
PPOL 4100 / 4 credits / Fall Quarter
Instructor: Patrick Heck, M.P.P.
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 social values, governmental and non-governmental stakeholders,
legislation and regulations, and events; (2) an assessment of a variety of policymaking
models; (3) an overview of the chief policymaking eras in American history.
Analytical and Critical Skills
PPOL 4400 / 4 credits / Winter Quarter
Instructor: Steve Hindes, M.D., M.P.H.
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.
Microeconomics for Public Policy Analysis (Quantitative Sequence 1/3)
PPOL 4200 / 4 credits / Winter Quarter
Instructor: Andrew Sherbo , Ph.D.
Builds upon intermediate-level microeconomic theory to develop the skills of microeconomic
modeling as an analytical tool for public policy. Issues addressed include: the allocation
of scarce resources; consumer choice; the theory of the firm; the form and consequences of
market failure; and the role of government. This course introduces the concepts of efficiency
and equity in the context of positive and normative economic analysis through the study of
government subsidies, labor markets, taxation, welfare, public goods and market regulation.
Quantitative Methods for Public Policy Analysis (Quantitative Sequence 2/3)
PPOL 4300 / 4 credits / Spring Quarter
Instructor: Andrew Sherbo , Ph.D.
This course provides an introduction to the mathematical and statistical methods that are
applied in subsequent courses, with an emphasis on learning techniques. Topics include descriptive
statistics, probability, sampling, estimation, inference and hypothesis testing, variable
analysis and correlation, regression theory, reliability and validity, and prediction and simulation.
Cost-Benefit Analysis (Quantitative Sequence 3/3)
PPOL 4500 / 4 credits / Fall Quarter
Instructor: Andrew Sherbo , Ph.D.
Focuses on cost-benefit analysis, a primary tool of the public policy analyst, as a basis
for policy formulation and program evaluation. Taught through case studies involving tax
expenditures; government mandates; health and safety regulation; government investments,
such as those in education, environmental quality and law enforcement; regulation of
financial industries; regulation of such conventional industries as automotives, food,
drugs, and high technology.
Public Management and Budgeting
PPOL 4700 / 4 credits / Spring Quarter
Instructor: Henry Sobanet , M.A.
This course provides an introduction to issues in Public Management, including organizational
structure and design; foundations of strategic action; development of strategic plans;
performance-based management; process and operations management; government contracting;
privatization; accountability; public choice; and public-private partnerships. "Public Management
and Budgeting" also provides an introduction to public sector budgeting, covering such topics
as balance sheets, revenues, the budget cycle, accounting principles, borrowing, and government
investment.
Regulatory Policy and Process
PPOL 4600 / 4 credits / Spring Quarter
Instructor: Richard A. Caldwell, M.A., J.D.
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 versus
agency adjudication; executive versus independent agencies; and deregulation versus self-regulation.
Emphasis is placed on the competing roles of government and non-governmental stakeholders.
The Great Issues Forums are a series of policy seminars focused on some of the nation's most
important current issues. The topics of these unique seminars rotate frequently, as expertise
and events warrant, and are an integral part of the MPP program. Recent Forums have included:
Comparative Ideas and Policies
Instructors: Natasha Léger (Consultant, Deloitte & Touche)
and Harlan Abrahams (Attorney and Writer)
This Forum focused on incorporating a comparative perspective to better understand domestic policies--their
trengths and weaknesses--as they relate to national and global implications. The principles
of comparative public policy were demonstrated by examining international trade disputes and
two specific countries, Singapore and Cuba.
Economic Development: Restarting the Metro Denver Economic Engine
Instructor: Joel Rosenstein (Attorney, Fisher Sweetbaum & Levin)
This Forum was an introduction to issues and processes that have a direct bearing on
economic development in the Denver area. The Forum examined the current economic climate
of metro Denver; the budgets of state and local governments; the public, quasi-public and
private actors that promote economic development; and the infrastructure needs of metro Denver.
Education Policy
Instructor: Peter C. Groff (Colorado State Senator, District 33)
The "Education Policy" 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.
Entitlements: Public Policy of Medicare and Social Security Reform
Instructors: Richard D. Lamm (Colorado Governor 1975-1987) and
Sarah Kuehl (Analyst, U.S. Senate Budget Committee)
The "Entitlements" Forum was an in-depth examination of the fiscal challenges of an aging
America, focused 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.
Foundations of American Government
Instructor: Andrew E. Busch (Professor of Government, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, Calif.)
"Foundations of American Government" was an overview of the United States' founding
personalities, principles, and documents. This Forum was a guide to the foundations
of American government and a key to understanding modern public policy.
Getting Results Inside the Beltway
Instructors: Raymond Friedlob (McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP) and
Sarah Kuehl (Senior Committee Staffer, U.S. Senate Budget Committee)
This Forum was an in-depth exploration into power and lobbying in Washington, DC, taught by two
Beltway insiders. Themes explored included the key strategies for accessing power in the American
legislative and executive context; the skills required to represent a client; how a successful
strategy incorporates an understanding of regulatory compliance and rule-making; and the personal
skills required to function effectively in a competitive environment. The Forum also featured guest
speakers from the Southeast Business Partnership and EchoStar Communications.
Globalism and Sovereignty
Instructors: Harlan Abrahams (Attorney and Writer) and Natasha Léger (Consultant, Deloitte & Touche)
This Forum explored the intersections and conflicts between "globalism" and "sovereignty" --
two words often heard but seldom understood. Globalization in the strict economic sense is
seen as only part of a larger global perspective. Sovereignty as a force of politics is seen
as relative and flexible. And both are shown to be subject to American constitutional
requirements. Case studies drawn from current events were used to emphasize multi-dimensional
thinking in a policy-making context.
Immigration
Instructor: Gov. Richard D. Lamm
This Forum examined the history of American immigration policy and the contemporary pressures for
immigration reform in America. The Forum also examined the questions of assimilation and the various
interpretations of what it means to be an American. Specific areas of inquiry included the first
"Great Wave" of immigration of the 1880s, changes in immigration policy in the 1920s and 1960s, and
policy reasons both for immigration and for limiting immigration.
The Initiative Process
Instructor: Alexis Senger (Chief Legislative Analyst, Joint Budget Committee, Colorado General Assembly)
The initiative process has been called the "unexamined arena of power politics"
Is direct democracy the "tyranny of the masses" or is it governmnt "for the people, by the people"?
Does the initiative process increase citizen involvement or does it simply bypass representative
government? 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?" Guest speakers included Dennis Gallagher (Denver City Auditor),
Mike Feeley (Baker & Hostetler, LLP; former Colo. State Senator) and Cary Kennedy
(Director of Policy, Office of Colo. House Speaker Romanoff).
The Knowledge Economy: Governance & Growth
Instructor: David M. Hart (Professor, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University)
A diverse set of public and private institutions has evolved to facilitate the creation,
protection, and use of knowledge--increasingly recognized as the key to long-term
economic growth. This Forum explored the origins of the knowledge economy and the
key choices facing society as these institutions evolved under the pressures of
globalization.
National Security, Modern War, and the New Threat Environment
Instructor: Christopher Carr (Professor, U.S. Air Force, Air War College)
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.
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. The two-day
Forum was capped off 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.
Urban Policy: The New Paranoia in Urban Policy and Politics
Instructor: Fred Siegel (Professor, Cooper Union College, New York City)
In the 1990s, the big American city, long a symbol of decline and depravity, experienced a
series of renewals. In New York and other big cities, the "evacuation mentality" that was the
result of high crime rates and loss of business confidence was challenged by a renewed
emphasis on law enforcement, quality of life and civil behavior. In the wake of divisive,
racially-themed elections in such cities as Philadelphia and Detroit, this Forum
investigated whether or not the traditional urban American model of acculturation will
be replaced by the"identity politics" of race and ethnic division.
As the capstone project of your MPP experience, the Policy Memorandum integrates the knowledge and skills you will learn in and outside the classroom. The Policy Memorandum will give you the opportunity to experience firsthand the type of practical and professional work often required of a policy analyst. You will identify and define a real world policy issue; analyze the issue by conducting research, gathering data and interviewing professionals with opposing views; analyze the costs and benefits of the issue; and recommend courses of action.
