Course Number: 90-723

Great Policy Problems in Historical Perspective

Units: 6

The course will examine three important policy problems from a historical perspective. The first is land policy, which played a huge role in the development of the United States in the nineteenth century and continues to play a significant role today primarily through federal government management of its enormous landholdings. One example is drilling in Alaska.

The second policy problem is immigration policy. We will examine the historical evolution of the policy and controversies related to it. The biggest of these is the negative impact if immigrant workers on native workers.

The third policy problem is elderly poverty policy. To understand Social Security's current problems, one has to understand what it replaced and how it evolved. The original conception was quite different than its current form.

Faculty:
Karen B. Clay