PSC 751: Public Policy Analysis Syllabus (Spring 2013)
Derek Kauneckis, Ph.D.
Dept. of Political Science
Email: Please use the WebCampus Email tool or if it is an emergency, then use:
kauneck@unr.edu
Office Hours: Online by appointment
Online & Independent Learning
Phone: (775) 784–4652 or (800) 233–8928, ext. 4652
Email: istudy@unr.edu
Location: 1041 N. Virginia St., Continuing Education Building, Room 225.
Office hours: Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Course Description: This course will introduce students to the essential skills of
public policy analysis and program evaluation. It is designed to present students
with the general theory, analytic frameworks, and techniques necessary to
analyze policy alternatives. Policy analysis can be understood as the analytic
and methodological toolbox for generalized problem solving. The methods
learned in this course are applicable across the private, nonprofit and public
sectors and should be thought of as the essential skill set that can distinguishes
you a professional policy analyst.
Course Objectives: The first objective of the course is to provide an
introduction to the theory of public goods, an understanding of market and
governance failures, and the role of public intervention. This provides the
fundamental conceptual background for the empirical methods of policy analysis.
The second objective is to teach how to empirically evaluate the impact of public
interventions and assist in improving decision-making. Toward this goal we will
apply various policy evaluation techniques including sensitivity analysis, costbenefit analysis, cost-effectiveness and life cycle cost analysis, and other
alternative methods. Student will learn these techniques through the application
to real world applications, including a final project.
On successful completion of the course, student should have developed
competency in the following areas:
1. A general understanding of the rational for government interventions in
private markets, individual decisions and society.
2. Knowledge of the logic of market and governance failures.
3. Understanding of the economics and impact of various policy instruments.
4. Awareness of the skill sets expected of professional policy analysts.
5. Exposure to standard methods and approaches of public policy analysis.
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Prerequisites: Eligibility to enroll in graduate level Political Science courses or
enrollment in the Graduate Renewable Energy Certificate Program. (ENGR 600
Alternative Energy Fundamentals is the recommended pre or co-requisite course
for this course.)
Required Texts: There are three (2) textbooks and one (1) workbook required
for this course as well as various individual readings.
Weimer, D. and A. Vining (2010), Policy Analysis: Concepts and Practice
(5th ed.), Prentice Hall, N.J., ISBN: 978-0205781300.
Gupta, D. (2011), Analyzing Public Policy: Concepts, Tools, and
Techniques (2nd ed.), CQ Press, D.C., ISBN: 978-1-60426-570-5.
Federal Highway Administration, Office of Asset Management,
“Life Cycle Cost Analysis Primer" (FHWA IF-02-047).
Available for free: http://isddc.dot.gov/OLPFiles/FHWA/010621.pdf
Readings and Lectures: Lecture notes posted online are designed to
supplement the assigned readings, not replace them. I believe it would be an
insult to your intellectual capacity to merely repeat what can be found in the
assigned readings. It is expected that you have done the readings before
referencing the lecture notes since they merely add additional material,
explanation and discussion. Some of the assigned readings (particularly Weimer
and Vining) are designed for advanced graduate students with backgrounds in
economics and statistics. Do not worry if you don’t understand some of the
graphs and mathematics. The lecture notes will walk you through what you need
to know for this class.
Additional Materials: The textbooks are the primary source for the class. If
supplemental material is needed, it will be provided via electronic course reserve
or be available on the internet. You can access electronic reserves by clicking on
the “Electronic Reserves” button on the course menu.
Student Expectations: This course is designed to be a graduate level class in
public policy analysis offered online. This implies a number of things that are
important to you as a student. First, I assume you are interested in the material,
or otherwise you would have taken a different course in this series. As a
graduate course, is expected that you come with a fair amount of individual
initiative and self-motivation. This means that if terms or concepts are unfamiliar,
and you are unable to understand the material from the book, that you we be
able to initiate conversations with other students and conduct the necessary work
outside the class to understand the material. Additionally, you should be aware
that the readings for this course are at a relatively high level and intellectually
demanding. While it is not essential that you understand all the material
presented in the readings (some of which requires a background in economics)
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you should be able to summarize the key important points from each reading.
The lecture notes will provide supplemental explanations of the material covered
in the readings when needed, but it is critical that you have wrestled with the
concepts from the readings first, before referring to the lecture note. Finally, as
graduate students you bring additional professional experiences that
undergraduate students typically to not have. I highly encourage you to draw on
these experiences for understanding the course material and in discussions with
fellow students.
Instructor Expectations: As an instructor for this course, my responsibilities
include providing engaging and relevant material to discuss, direction and
feedback on ideas presented in class, and treating each student with fairness
and respect. I will attempt to respond to questions in a timely manner.
Coursework:
Because there are multiple types of students enrolled in the course, there are a
number of options available to each of you in terms of how you choose to
illustrate your command of the material.
Students enrolled in a regular graduate degree program on campus have
two options:
(A) Exercises 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; two exams; Course Project (Option I)
(B) Exercises 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; two exams; Course Project (Option II)
This permits more flexibility in your scheduling, engaging other students, and the
substantive topic of the paper. GREC students do not necessarily have to do a
research paper on a topic of renewable energy. As mentioned earlier, these are
generalized tool skills that can be applied to any topic, so once learned they are
useful across a broad array of applications.
Graduate Renewable Energy Certificate (GREC) students have three options
in terms of workload:
(C) Exercises 3, 4, 5 and two exams
(D) Exercises 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; one exam; Course Project (Option I)
(E) Exercises 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; one exam; Course Project (Option II)
GREC students should select the coursework option (C, D, or E) you prefer
by the third week of class. The first assignment is a submission of a paper
topic, so if I have not received it from you by the due date, you will default
to option C.
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Exercise 1: Paper Topic, A one-page abstract of your final class paper topic
and selection of 10 sources.
Due: End of week 2
Value: 50 points
Exercise 2: Paper Literature Review, A two-page literature review of your
paper topic.
Due: End of week 4
Value: 100 points
Exercise 3: Policy Analysis Process and Goals, A practice exercise applying
a political feasibly analysis. Due: End of week 6
Value: 100 points
Exercise 4: Cost Benefit Analysis, A series of exercises aimed at applying the
basic skills needed for cost benefit analysis and understanding the logic of
discounting.
Due: End of week 7
Value: 100 points
Exercise 5: Life Cycle Cost Analysis, A short exercise constructing a life cycle
cost analysis for a hypothetical project.
Due: End of week 8
Value: 100 points
Course Project
Due: April 20, 6:00 pm
Value: 200 points
Option I - Group Policy Analysis Project: This option is the more interesting of
the two writing projects. While there is less individual writing involved, it does
require more coordination with other students and doing a real policy analysis
project document. The group will need to find a client in the community and apply
the skills from class to a real work policy problem. While grades will be assigned
based on individual contribution, designated tasks, and peer evaluations of your
work, there is typically more work involved in group projects. However getting to
work on a real policy issue does make the experience more rewarding, as well as
exposes you to aspects of policy analysis in the local community, and provides
an example of a project you can add to your resume. If you choose paper option
I, you will each be responsible for writing one section of about 6 pages, have a
group responsibility assigned to, and need to complete a professional policy
analysis report. The size of the final project will depend on the size of the student
group (4 students would need to submit something about 24 pages, plus tables
and graphs).
Option II - Single Authored Policy Brief: Twenty page research paper on the
topic of your choice. A more detailed literature review will be expected from any
non-GPRE student. GPRE students are permitted to use more literature from
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their professional fields (reports, internal documents, etc.) while students in
degree granting programs on campus are expected to utilize more of the
academic research literature.
Note: Late assignments are not accepted.
Weekly Online Discussions:
Your original discussion posting is due by 11:59 p.m. (PST) on Wednesdays.
Your responses to classmates’ postings are due by 11:59 p.m. (PST) on
Saturdays.
Value: 20 points each (see Discussion Rubric and examples of evaluation at end
of syllabus)
Late postings/responses will not be evaluated.
The discussion board in this course is designed with three goals: first, to help you
digest the reading material through the discussion questions offered at the end of
each module; second, to have you apply the material in the books to renewable
energy issues you are dealing with as energy professionals by offering examples,
issues in the media for class discussion, and case studies from your local
jurisdiction; third, to allow you the opportunity to get to know one another and
develop a professional network of renewable energy professionals. In order to
reach these goals it demands attention to specific aspects of your answers to the
discussion questions. Please remember that these are intended to be discussions among students,
with only occasional intervention by the instructor, not a discussion with the
instructor. Also, keep in mind that you need to offer both an initial posting of your
own, as well as at least one response to another student’s posting. This is
intended to make this an actual discussion not merely a Q&A session online.
Finally, and most importantly, keep in mind that I will be reading your original
postings as mini-essays, and that they represent the written component for the
class. Discussion question responses should also be written with the same care,
quality and forethought as a written paper.
As the instructor for this course, I will occasionally intervene to answer specific
questions and steer the conversation in the right direction, but as graduate
students you are expected to be independent learners and use all the resources
at your disposal, including your peers and outside resources as needed.
To help you reach these goals, a Discussion Rubric (see Weekly Online
Discussions on the WebCampus Syllabus page) will be followed very closely in
assigning grades for each week’s discussion board postings.
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Examinations:
Progress Test I: week 5
Proctored Final Exam: week 10
Value: 200 points each
The questions for the Progress Test I and the Proctored Final Exam will closely
resemble those drawn from the questions at the end of each chapter. Thus it is
highly encouraged that you work through the questions at the end of the text
chapters on your own as practice for the exams. You are encouraged to work
together on these questions and actively discuss them in the online forums.
Progress Test I: The format for the Progress Test I will be multiple choice, and
are typically composed of about 50 questions, worth two-points each. The first
exam covers primarily conceptual material on public goods theory and public
policy. It is timed and you will have one hour to complete it. I’ve been told my
multiple choice exams are difficult, so please do study accordingly.
Proctored Final Exam: The final exam is not comprehensive, and will focus on
material from the second half of class (i.e. applying the tools of CBA, life cycle
analysis, discounting and others). While the majority of the exam is multiple
choice, it will contain a short written section that will mimic the format of the
weekly written assignments.
The Final Exam is proctored through an online proctoring service called ProctorU
and must be taken at an assigned time. Remember, you must make
arrangements with Online & Independent Leaning in advance to take final exam;
see the Final Exam page for details on scheduling the final exam.
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Grading
Student grades will be awarded based upon your performance on the
aforementioned course requirements. Depending on the enrollment status of the
student, one of five point distributions is possible. You must select their option
by the due date of the first assignment. Students enrolled in regular graduate programs have three options:
A) Exercises 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; two exams; paper option I
B) Exercises 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; two exams; paper option II
OPTIONS A & B
Assignment
Points % of Total*
Weekly discussions (Nine worth 20 points each)
180
14.6
Assignment 1: Paper Topic
50
4.1
Assignment 2: Paper Literature Review
100
8.1
Assignment 3: Policy Analysis Process and Goals
100
8.1
Assignment 4: Cost Benefit Analysis
100
8.1
Assignment 5: Life Cycle Cost Analysis
100
8.1
Course Paper
200
16.3
Progress Test 1
200
16.3
Final Exam
200
16.3
Total Possible
1230
GPRE students have three options in terms of workload:
(C) Exercises 3, 4, 5 and two exams,
(D) Exercises 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; one exam; paper option I
(E) Exercises 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; one exam; paper option II
OPTION C
Assignment
Weekly discussions (Nine worth 20 points each)
Assignment 3: Policy Analysis Process and Goals
Assignment 4: Cost Benefit Analysis
Assignment 5: Life Cycle Cost Analysis
Progress Test 1
Final Exam
Total Possible
Points
180
100
100
100
200
200
880
% by
Total*
20.5
11.7
11.7
11.7
22.7
22.7
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OPTIONS D & E
Assignment
Points
Weekly discussions (Nine worth 20 points each)
180
Assignment 1: Paper Topic
100
Assignment 2: Paper Literature Review
100
Assignment 3: Policy Analysis Process and Goals
100
Assignment 4: Cost Benefit Analysis
100
Assignment 5: Life Cycle Cost Analysis
100
Course Paper
200
Progress Test 1 or Final Exam
200
Total Possible
1080
% by Total*
16.7
9.3
9.3
9.3
9.3
9.3
18.5
18.5
Grade Scale:
The following scale will be used to determine letter grades:
A
95–100%
A-
90–94.9%
B+
87–89.9%
B
83–86.9%
B-
80–82.9%
C+
77–79.9%
C
73–76.9%
C-
70–72.9%
D+
67–69.9%
D
63–66.9%
D-
60–62.9%
F
below 60%
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Semester at a Glance (Note that each week begins on a Sunday and ends
on Saturday at midnight.)
Week/Dates
Week 1
Learning Modules
Module 1:
What is Public
Policy Analysis?
Assignments
Weimer & Vining, Ch. 1 “Preview: The
Canadian Salmon Fishery” & Ch. 2 “What is
Policy Analysis?”
Gupta, Ch. 1 “Reason, Rationality and Public
Policy”, Ch. 2 “The Policy Analysis Process”.
Week 1 Discussion
Week 2
Module 2:
The Basic Market
Model
Weimer & Vining, Ch. 4, “Efficiency and the
Idealized Competitive Model”
Gupta, p. 47-52.
Week 2 Discussion
Ex. 1: Submit paper topic idea (and read Gupta,
Appendix A: Example of a Policy Analysis
Report, p. 389-411).
Week 3
Module 3:
Market Failures
Weimer & Vining, Ch. 5 “Rationales for Public
Policy: Market Failures”, Ch. 6 “Other
Limitations of the Competitive Market”
Gupta, p. 52-62.
Week 3 Discussion
Week 4
Module 4:
Non-Market
Values and
Government
Failures
Weimer & Vining, Ch. 7 “Distributional and
Other Goals”, Ch. 8 “Limits to Public
Intervention: Government Failures”
Gupta, p. 62-73.
Week 4 Discussion
Assignment 2: Policy Project Literature Review
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Week 5
Week 6
Weimer & Vining, Ch. 9 “Policy Problems as
Market and Government Failure”, Ch. 10
“Correcting Market and Government Failures:
Generic Policies”
Module 5:
Policy
Instruments
Week 5 Discussion
Progress Test I
Module 6:
Weimer & Vining, Ch. 3 “Toward Professional
Policy Goals, the
Ethics”, Ch. 11 “Adoption”, Ch. 12
Public Policy
“Implementation”, Ch. 15 “Landing on Your
Process, and the
Feet: Organizing your Policy Analysis”
Role of the Policy
Analyst
Gupta, Ch. 4, p. 75-98, Ch. 5, p. 101-128, Ch.
15, p. 373-387
Week 6 Discussion
Ex. 3: Policy analysis process and goals
Week 7
Weimer & Vining, Ch. 16 “Benefit-Cost
Analysis”, Ch. 17 “When Statistics Count:
Revising the Lead Standard for Gasoline”.
Module 7:
Cost benefit
analysis
Gupta Ch. 14, p. 345-370.
Week 7 Discussion
Ex. 4: Cost-benefit Analysis
Week 8:
Mar. 24-30
Module 8:
Life-cycle cost
analysis
Federal Highway Administration, Office of Asset
Management “Life Cycle Cost Analysis Primer”.
Week 8 Discussion
Ex. 5: Life Cycle Cost Analysis
Week 9:
Mar. 31 –
Apr. 6
Module 9:
Projections,
Prediction and
Change
Gupta Ch. 10, Ch. 11, Ch. 13, p. 225-343.
Week 9 Discussion
Proctored Final Exam
Final Course Project Due
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Academic Honesty: Individual responsibility is one of the key aspects of
independent learning. It is important that the student adhere to a personal code
of ethics in the completion of the course lessons. Discussion of the lesson
materials with other students is encouraged, but all work submitted must be your
own. Anyone caught violating this university regulation will be subject to
disciplinary action as stated in the Academic Standards section of the General
Catalog at the University of Nevada, Reno. A violation may result in your failing
the course.
Civility: Students are expected to conduct themselves in a civil manner at all
times and in all forums. Students are responsible for contribute to the
maintenance of a campus environment that fosters intellectual curiosity and
diversity. That means respectful engagement with differing opinions and views.
Harassment of one individual by another—in person, via e-mail or in electronic
discussions—is uncivil behavior, which discourage the open expression of ideas
on academic subjects. Independent Learning and the university are committed to
an orderly learning environment that protects the right of free speech, and do not
tolerate personal intimidation of any kind.
Class Conduct: With recommendation of the instructor and approval of the
college dean students may be dropped from class at any time for negligence or
misconduct. Students may also be dropped for non-attendance upon indication of
the instructor. Non-attendance in an online class consists of one or more of the
following: Not logging into the WebCampus course on at least a bi-weekly basis,
not working on and submitting assignments on a weekly basis and not
participating in discussion questions by the dates assigned.
Equal Access: The Independent Learning Program supports providing equal
access for students with disabilities. Any student with a disability needing
academic adjustments or accommodations is requested to contact the
Independent Learning Office or the Disability Resource Center at the University
of Nevada, Reno, as soon as possible to arrange for appropriate
accommodations.
Disability Resource Center/0079
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, NV 89557
(775) 784-6000
http://www.unr.edu/stsv/slservices/drc/
Online and Independent Learning/0050
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, NV 89577
(775)784-4652 or (800) 233-8928
http://www.istudy.unr.edu
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