11.002
Making Public Policy
Examines how the struggle among competing advocates shapes the outputs of government. Considers how conditions become problems for government to solve, why some political arguments are more persuasive than others, why some policy tools are preferred over others, and whether policies achieve their goals. Investigates the interactions among elected officials, think tanks, interest groups, the media, and the public in controversies over global warming, urban sprawl, Social Security, health care, education, and other issues.
Fall 2014
Topics
- Introduction
- An Introduction to Policy and Politics
- Health Care: Interest Groups and Public Opinion – Defining the Problem in the Contemporary Era
- Health Care: Passing Health-Care Reform in Congress
- Health Care: Implementing Health-Care Reform
- Policy Evaluation: Health Care and Gun Control
- Gun Control: Agenda Setting and Issue Framing
- Gun Control: Policy and Evaluation
- Federal Budget: Recession, Deficit, and Problem Definition
- Federal Budget: Recession, Deficit, and Problem Definition (cont.)
- Federal Budget: Legislative Tactics – The Fiscal Cliff and the Sequester
- Immigration Reform: History, Economic Impacts, and Current Policy
- Immigration Reform: Legislative Efforts and the Electoral Connection
- Immigration Reform: Executive Action
- Gay Marriage: Making Social Policy at the Federal Level
- Gay Marriage: Making Policy in the States
- Gay Marriage: Making Policy in Court
- Guest Speaker
- Climate Change: Science, Public Opinion, and the Media
- Climate Change: Federal Action in Congress and the Executive Branch
- Climate Change: Policy Options
- Climate Change: State Action and the Arizona Net-Metering Case
- Summary Class
- Final Oral Project
- Final Oral Project (cont.)
Readings
- SES #: 1 · TOPICS: Introduction · READINGS: None
- Kingdon, John W. Chapter 9 in Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies . 2nd ed. Harper Collins, 1995 pp. 196–208.
- Mayhew, David. Congress: The Electoral Connection . Yale University Press, 1974, pp. 13–17.
- Stimson, James, Michael MacKuen, and Robert S. Erikson. “Dynamic Representation.” In Principles and Practice of American Politics . CQ Press, 2012, pp. 466–80.
- Skocpol, Theda. “Introduction.” In Boomerang Health Care Reform and the Turn against Government . W. W. Norton & Company, 1997, pp. 1–19. ISBN: 9780393315721.
- Arnold, R. Douglas. The Logic of Congressional Action . Yale University Press, 1990, pp. 3–16. ISBN: 9780300048346.
- Singleton, Royce A., and Bruce C. Straits. Approaches to Social Research . 5th ed. Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 1–12. ISBN: 9780195372984.
- Howlett, Michael, M. Ramesh, and Anthony Perl. “Policy Evaluation: Policy-Making as Policy Learning.” In Studying Public Policy: Policy Cycles and Policy Subsystems . Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 171–85 ISBN: 9780195428025.
- Olson, Mancur. “The Logic of Collective Action.” In The Enduring Debate: Classic and Contemporary Readings in American Politics . W. W. Norton & Company, 2013, pp. 425–33. ISBN: 9780393921588.
- Cook, Philip J., and Jens Ludwig. “The Limited Impact of the Brady Act.” In Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis . Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013. ISBN: 9781421411101.
- Kingdon, John W. Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies . 2nd ed. Longman, 1995, pp. 21-30.
- Davidson, Roger H. “Presidential Relations with Congress.” In Understanding the Presidency . 6th ed. Longman, 2011, pp. 253–67.
- Hoch, Maureen. “The Battle over Same-Sex Marriage: Marriage and the States,” PBS Online NewsHour , April 30, 2004.
- Peterson, Paul. “The Price of Federalism.” In The Enduring Debate: Classic and Contemporary Readings in American Politics . W. W. Norton & Company, 2013, pp. 73–81. ISBN: 9780393921588.
- Tarr, Alan. Judicial Process and Judicial Policymaking . 3rd ed. Thompson Custom Publishing, 2003, pp. 281–88. ISBN: 9780534037130.
- Friedman, Leon. “Overruling the Court.” In The Enduring Debate: Classic and Contemporary Readings in American Politics . W. W. Norton & Company, 2013, pp. 263–67. ISBN: 9780393921588.
- Rabe, B. G. Chapter 1 in Statehouse and Greenhouse: The Emerging Politics of American Climate Change Policy . Brookings Institution Press, 2004. ISBN: 9780815773092. (Skim)
Prerequisites & course information
Same subject as 17.30[J] Prereq: None U (Fall) 4-0-8 units. HASS-S; CI-H
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Fall 2014
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.