Course Number: 90-754

Engineering Public Policy Change

Units: 12

Policy analysts, non-profit administrators and other professionals are constantly envisioning changes in public policy that they believe will improve the public good. But frequently for their ideas to become realities, public legislation is necessary. Enter politics, political process and politicians. Indeed, elected politicians are the ultimate decision-makers in changing public law. The political process can be very messy, but students can develop an understanding of how to develop and execute a multi-year strategy to engineer the legal enactment of significant public policy change. An engineer is "somebody who plans, oversees, or brings about something, especially something that is achieved with ingenuity..." The purpose of this course is to give students the ingenuity necessary to "engineer public policy change."

Policy change will be examined as a process to be planned and executed. Topics will include:

the context in which public policy change, including the "politician's personality", political campaigns as policy making exercises, the nature of legislating and governing, and the lines of influence on the decision makers in the political system.
the influence of socio-political environmental drivers in motivating change
the application of policy, public opinion and political research and analysis in laying the groundwork for policy change
the organization of consensus and advocacy, both coalition building and inside lobbying, in influencing the formal approval of policy change

the role of leaders, organization, money and communication throughout the stages of the change process
the challenges of time and timing in legislating

Readings and classroom exercises will address these topics. "Real life" cases will be used to learn how the topics must be integrated into strategy and execution. Experienced "public policy change engineers" will come to class to share their experience and knowledge.

Each student will undertake a semester project in which they will apply what they are learning to a contemporary proposal for public policy change.

Faculty:
Richard A. Stafford