Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
762:305:90 PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC POLICY – ONLINE CLASS
Spring 2014
COURSE SYLLABUS
Instructor:
Office:
Office Hours:
Email:
Dr. Alan Cander
Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, Room 259
Tuesdays 2PM –6PM and by appointment
alan.cander@rutgers.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND TEACHING STYLE
Welcome to Principles of Public Policy! This course is designed as a primer on the “who, what, when,
where, and why” of public policy in which we will explore the intersection of problems (issues),
politics, and policy.
A major goal of the course is to instill a basic knowledge of how public policies are formulated in the
United States. We will focus on the role of institutions, the actors involved, agenda setting, problem
identification and definition, policy options and why they are chosen as well as implementation and
evaluation. Our primary focus is on broad tendencies in policy-making at the federal level and
throughout the country. The course will guide you in finding answers to a number of key questions
about public policy and the public policy process as it exists in the United States. Among these
questions are the following:
 What are the characteristics and forms of public policy?
 What determines whether a problem is ready to be addressed through policy proposals? What is
the difference between a problem and a condition?
 How is policy made? What actors and institutions are involved? What is the role of the federal
government and its branches and bureaucracies and agencies?
 What is the role of private entities in the policy process?
 What is the role of the media in the policy process?
 What is the role of the public? What is meant by national mood? What about elections and the
policy process?
 What is the role of private interest groups in the policy process?
 What is the role of academia and the research community?
 What is issue framing?
 How is policy implemented?
 How do theories explain – or fit into – the policy process and inform how it is evaluated?
We will explore public policy issues in United States through a combination of readings based on case
studies, my online lectures, and the class assignments. The cases in the readings provide excellent
examples of how governmental and nongovernmental professionals have addressed specific policy
issues. At times they have been successful and at other times not. Still, there is much for students to
learn from looking at how others have grappled with policy problems and considered alternatives for
addressing them.
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This is an online course. The format for the course will include weekly video slides and facilitated
discussions on our Sakai course site. The lectures will be made available on Monday afternoons.
Discussion boards will be active for the week. Active learning is extremely important to your success in
this class. Interactive discussions facilitated on Sakai are a requirement and your participation in them is
part of your grade.
OVERALL COURSE GOALS
 Gain an understanding of the policy making process and the people and groups (governmental
and nongovernmental) involved.
 Gain an awareness of how emergent problems and the politics involved shape policy formation.
 Gain experience in analyzing, discussing, and writing about public policy issues and learning to
think critically about other people’s ideas and through a group presentation process.
 Encourage you to further explore particular policy areas or consider a career in policy-making.
SAS CORE CURRICULUM LEARNING GOALS
Goal j:
Identify and critically assess ethnical issues in social science and history.
Goal m:
Understand different theories about human culture, social identity, economic
entities, political systems and other forms of social organization.
Goal s1:
Communicate complex ideas effectively, in standard written English, to a general
audience.
Goal t:
Communicate effectively in modes appropriate to a discipline or area of inquiry.
Goal u:
Analyze and synthesize information and ideas from multiple sources to generate
new insights.
REQUIRED TEXTS
 Kingdon, J. W. 2011. Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies (Updated 2nd Ed.). Boston:
Longman.
 Smith, Catherine F. 2010. Writing Public Policy: A Practical Guide to Communicating in
the Policy-Making Process, 2nd Edition. New York: Oxford University Press.

HOW YOUR GRADE WILL BE DETERMINED
Grades will be based on five activities:
1) Class Participation/Online Discussion Board: 20% of Your Final Grade
The online discussion board is the basis for your class participation grade and all students must
contribute to it with 3 posts, on 10 of the semester’s weeks, as follows:
Critical Thinking Post: All students must post a response of about 75 to 100 words to the
question I have posted on that week’s readings and the lecture. The maximum number of points
you can receive for this post is 5 points and this will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
1. You posted a roughly 75 to100-word response to that week’s question.
2. Your post is germane to the posted question. In other words, you did not go off on an
unrelated tangent.
3. Your post is comprehensible and clearly written.
4. Your post is substantive and perceptive and reflects the readings and lectures.
5. Your grammar and spelling are correct.
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Current Event Post: All students must post a brief analysis of about 100 words of a policyrelated news article of their choice from the past 30 days and provide the link to that article. The
article can be from a reputable and reliable Internet news source or blog. This post must be
unique, meaning it must not be identical to one posted by another student – although the topic
can be the same. This post is worth a total of 5 points. In your post consider discussing the
following:






What problem /issue is being identified or addressed?
What was the trigger? (Why is this problem/ issue in the news?)
What solution or proposal for addressing the problem/issue is discussed in the article?
Who are the major players and are they within government or are they nongovernmental?
What about the political stream: is the approach to the problem partisan or bipartisan? In
other words are both Democrats and Republicans involved (it is bipartisan) or is only one
party involved (it is partisan)?
Do you believe this problem/issue will stay in the news or will it fade and why?
Comment on Current Event Post: All students must read at least one other student’s Current
Event Post and provide a 50-word comment.
All 3 weekly posts are due by the 11:59 PM deadline.
2) Four Assignments: 30% of Your Final Grade
Due dates and times are indicated on the Course Schedule at the end of this syllabus.
Assignments must be typed single-spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman.
Assignments
Percent Final Grade
 Memo 1: Critique of a policy website of
10%
your choice, based on specific criteria.
 Memo 2: Critique of an actual policy/program
10%
based on a short article and specific criteria.
 Reaction Paper 1, based on specific readings
5%
in which you will provide your synthesis and reaction/opinion.
 Reaction Paper 2, based on specific readings
5%
in which you will provide your synthesis and reaction/opinion.
Total Percent of Your Final Grade
3) Quizzes: 10% of Your Final Grade
You will take two Sakai quizzes, each worth 5% of your total grade.
30%
4) Exam: 20% of Your Final Grade
You will have an essay-based exam that will take the place of a week session. It will be posted
on Tuesday ___ at 9 am and will be due on Sakai under Assignments ___ at 5 pm.
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5) Final Paper (“Big Memo”): 20% of Your Final Grade
Students will write a 5-page, single-spaced memo (12-point font, Times New Roman) on a
current policy issue of their choosing. The memo will contain 5 parts: 1) Nature of the
issue/problem; 2) History of the issue/problem (including past legislation); 3) Where it stands
now (what is working and what is not working or not being addressed); 4) Possible policy
alternatives; and 5) Your recommendations – in that order.
GRADING SCALE
A = 90-100; B+ = 87-89; B = 80-86; C + = 77-79; C= 70-76; D = 60-70; F = 59 and below
COURSE GROUND RULES
You are expected to conduct yourself in a collegial, mature, and respectful manner - towards me and
towards each other. In order to facilitate this online learning environment, we will adhere to some basic
“ground rules”:
Ground Rule 1: You are responsible for reading the entire syllabus and all announcements on Sakai
and adhering to them and any changes in scheduling or assignments. Check Sakai at least once or twice
each week for announcements.
Ground Rule 2: All assignments must be completed on time. The memo assignments, reaction papers,
and the Final Memo must be typed in 12-point, Time New Roman font on Sakai. For the online
discussions (including your response to my discussion question, your current event post, and your
response to another student’s current event post) please simply make sure you use a legible font.
Assignments cannot be submitted after the due date: missed and late assignments will receive “0”
grades. Sakai locks you out the instant the deadline passes and will not be able to submit.
Ground Rule 3: I will absolutely not tolerate cheating, plagiarism and other forms of academic
dishonesty and violations of academic integrity. I use Turnitin on Sakai and any assignments
demonstrating any violations of academic integrity will result in grades of 0 for that assignment and
possibly me contacting the administration. Please consult the University’s Policy on Academic Integrity
for Undergraduate and Graduate Students located on the web at
http://ctaar.rutgers.edu/integrity/policy.html.
Ground Rule 4: If any questions or concerns arise and/or you are experiencing academic or personal
difficulties and you would like to meet in person, please come see me and do so early in the semester! I
am happy to meet with you and assist you. My office hours are listed on the top of the syllabus. In the
event you cannot make my office hours please make an appointment.
Ground Rule 5: Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully
demonstrating his or her abilities should contact me as soon as possible so we can discuss
accommodations necessary to ensure full participation and to facilitate your educational opportunities.
Please make sure you show me a Letter of Accommodation and the appropriate forms for me to sign. I
am happy to assist you!
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COURSE SCHEDULE
(The term Posts refers to the three posts due most weeks.)
Sessions
Lectures
Readings
Wk 1:
1/20 -1/24
Wk 2:
1/27 - 1/31
Wk 3:
2/3 - 2/7
Intro to course
How does an idea’s time come
Participants in policy process within government
Kingdon Ch 1
Smith Ch 1
Kingdon Ch 2
Smith Ch 2
Kingdon Ch 3
Smith Ch 3
Wk 4:
2/10 - 2/14
Public policy theories and Kingdon’s Model
Forrester’s Model/Bounded Rationality
Incrementalism
Wk 5:
2/17 - 2/21
The Problem Stream
Wk 6:
2/24 -2/28
The Policy Primeval Soup/ Policy Stream
Wk 7:
3/3 – 3/7
The Political Stream
Kingdon Ch 7
Smith Ch 6
Wk 8:
3/10 – 3/14
Policy Windows
Kingdon Ch 8
Wk 9:
3/17 – 3/21
Wk 10:
3/24-3/28
Wk 11:
3/31 – 4/4
Wk 12:
4/7 – 4/11
Spring Break – Enjoy Yourselves (but be safe)
Spring Break
Pulling Kingdon’s Concepts Together
Kingdon Ch 9
Kingdon on Specific Case Studies
Kingdon
Ch 10
Wk 13:
4/14 – 4/18
Obamacare Issues
Wk 14:
4/21- 4/25
Medical Marijuana readings
Kingdon
Epilogue
Reddit on
Obamacare
Readings on
Sakai
Wk 15:
4/28 – 5/2
Semester Wrap-up
Participants in policy process outside government
Kingdon Ch 4
Smith Ch 4
Forrester
reading (on
Sakai)
Kingdon Ch 5
Greenberg
reading
Kingdon Ch 6
Smith Ch 5
Essay Exam (cumulative) on Wks 1 through 10
Final Paper
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Assignment and Due
Date/Time
Posts due 1/27 at 11:59 PM
Posts due 2/3 at 11:59 pm
Memo 1: Policy Website
Critique due 2/10 at 11:59
pm
Posts due 2/10 at 11:59 pm
Quiz 1 on Wks 1-4 due by
2/17 at 11:59 pm
Posts due 2/17 at 11:59 pm
Final Paper idea due 2/24
at 11:59 pm
Posts due 2/24 at 11:59 pm
Memo 2: Policy Critique
due 3/3 by 11:59 PM
Posts due 3/3 at 11:59 pm
Posts due 3/10 at 11:59 pm
Quiz 2 on Wks 5-8 due 3/17
at 11:59 pm
No discussions due
Spring Break
Posts due on Chs. 8 and 9 on
3/31 by 11:59 pm
Exam due 4/7 at 11:59 pm
No discussions due
Reaction Paper 1 on Ch 10
due 4/14 at 11:59 pm
No discussions due
Posts due 4/20 at 9 pm
Outline due for Final
Paper by 4/21 at 11:59 pm
Reaction Paper 2 on
Medical Marijuana readings
due 4/28 at 11:59 pm
Posts due 4/28 by 11:59 pm
Final Paper due 5/8 by
11:59 pm
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